
Class 
Book- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Fighting the Polar Ice 



By 
ANTHONY FIALA 

Commander of the Ziegler Polar Expedition 
Author of " Troop 'C in Service" 



With an Introduction by 

W. S. Champ, and Reports by William J. Peters, Russell W. Porter 

and Oliver S. Fassig 



Illustrations from photographs and sketches by 
the author. Also nine, from paintings in colour 
by Russell W. Porter and J. Knoiules Hare 




NEW YORK 

Doubleday, Page & Company 

1906 



LIBRARY of CONGRPSS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 24 (906 

fr\Copyrlffht Entry , 
CLASS A XXc, No, 
COPY B. ' 






Copyright, 1906, by Anthony Fiala 
Published, November, 1906 



^4 // rights reserved, 

including- that of ira?tslation into foreign languages, 

including tJie Scandinavian 






Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/fightingpolariceOOfial 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



\ 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL LIBRARY 

The Opening of Tibet, 

By Perceval London 

Flashlights in the Jungle, 

■By C. G. Schillings 

The Passing of Korea, 

By Homer B. Hulbert, A. M., F. R. G. S. 

Fighting the Polar Ice, 

By Anthony Fiala 






%. 



Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? Declare if thou 
knowestit all. 

Where is the way where Light dwelleth? And as for Darkness, where 
is the place thereof. Job. 



qto tit S^rototp 

OF HIM 

WHO SENT THE EXPEDITION FORTH 



% 



' • - 




(Died May 24, 1905) 




INTRODUCTION 

The crowning desire of the late Mr. William Ziegler 
was to link his name with some scientific achievement 
which would be considered great when compared with 
others of the 20th Century, and he thought there was 
no mystery, the solution of which would be so heartily 
welcomed by the world at large as the exact location 
of the North Pole and accurate information as to the 
conditions existing there. 

In July 1 90 1 he sent out an expedition consisting 
of the America, a vessel of 466 tons burden, the 
Frith jo f, 270 tons, and the Belgica, under the 
command of Mr. Evelyn B. Baldwin. It has been 
said, and I believe truly, that no explorer had ever 
sailed under more favourable or promising conditions. 
Be this as it may, in the following summer the ex-' 
pedition returned unsuccessful. Mr. Ziegler, although 
greatly disappointed at this failure, immediately 
decided to send forth another expedition, and in look- 
ing over the field for a competent leader, and after 
consulting with several gentlemen whose names are 
familiar in Arctic history, he selected Mr. Anthony 
Fiala of Brooklyn, who had served the first expedition 
as photographer so well, and the high regard in which 
he was held by all of the members had a decided bear- 
ing on Mr. Ziegler's determining this all important 
problem. 



x FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Thus it was that in the spring of 1903 Mr. Fiala left 
for Norway to take personal charge of the fitting out 
of the Ziegler Polar Expedition which sailed from 
Trondhjem, Norway, June 23, 1903. 

As the personal representative of the late Mr. William 
Ziegler it was my duty to attend to a very large extent 
to the financial and business end of both of these 
expeditions, and I want to take this opportunity 
to publicly acknowledge the great assistance rendered 
and uniform courtesy extended by both the Nor- 
wegian and Russian Governments, and also to Mr. 
Johannes H. Giaever former British vice-consul at 
Tromso. To the President, Officers, and Executive 
committee of the National Geographic Society is 
largely due the mapping out of the scientific work 
which was successfully carried out by their representa- 
tive, Mr. W. J. Peters, who was afforded every oppor- 
tunity for his work by the leader of the expedition, who 
speaks highly of his service and also of the service 
rendered by the members of the scientific staff. 

Though the expedition failed of its object through 
an unprecedented experience of unfavourable con- 
ditions linked with the loss of the ship, it did not re- 
turn without results and the records of its work. 
The valuable scientific instruments were dragged 
hundreds of miles over ice of glaciers and channels 
first in the accomplishment of duties and later to 
the relief ship. 

Three attempts north were made and an opportunity 
was afforded for heroic and loyal devotion to the trust, 
in which the small body of volunteers who stayed at 
Camp Abruzzi through the second winter proved true. 



INTRODUCTION • 

One died at his post. Their names are given in the 
narrative by Mr. Fiala and I will not attempt to add to 
his story. 

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I announce 
that this valuable scientific record is being published 
by the Estate of William Ziegler under the direction 
of Mr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Editor of the National 
Geographic Magazine, Washington, D. C. 

In conclusion permit me to introduce to the readers 
of this narrative Captain J. Kjeldsen of Tromso, Nor- 
way, a true Arctic hero, the man who safely navigated 
the S. S. Terra Nova, which effected a timely rescue of 
the members of the Ziegler Expedition. To him and 
his faithful Norwegian officers and crew the writer 
feelingly tenders this acknowledgment, and publicly 
expresses the heartfelt appreciation of the rescued. 

William S. Champ. 
New York, Aug. 14th, 1906. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction by William S. Champ 



IX 



I. The Problem 3 

II. Early Days of the Expedition .... 8 

III. We Say Farewell to America .... 16 

IV. The America Forces Her Way North . . -25 
V. The Fight Up the British Channel . . . 35 

VI. Camp Abruzzi ....... 41 

VII. Adrift in the Darkness . . . . . 48 

VIII. The America Wrecked by the Ice Fields . . 52 

IX. The Night of Preparation . . . . 61 

X. Preliminary Sledge Work 70 

XI. The First Attempt North . . . . 78 

XII. The Second Effort North 84 

XIII. Home Longings . . . . . . 93 

XIV. The Retreat South to Cape Flora . . . 99 
XV. Camp Jackson 109 

XVI. The Vain Wait for the Relief Ship . . .116 

XVII. The Start for Camp Abruzzi . . . .126 

XVIII. "He Brought Me Up Also Out of an Horrible Pit" 135 

XIX. Through Darkness and Ice to Camp Abruzzi . 144 

XX. The Polar Night of 1905 153 

XXI. The Return of the Sun 162 



CONTENTS— Continued 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. Our Third and Last Fight with the Polar Ice . 168 

XXIII. From Teplitz Bay to Camp Ziegler . . .180 

XXIV, Waiting for Relief in 1905 186 

XXV. Rescued! 193 

An Afterword ......... 199 

Appendix No. I. Formation of the Sledge Parties in the 

Three Attempts North, 1904-1905 .... 237 

Appendix No. II. Report of Scientific Work Done on the 

Ziegler Polar Expedition, 1903-1904 .... 245 

Appendix No. III. Porter's March from Cape Flora to 

Camp Abruzzi 258 

Appendix No. IV. Trip to the Northeast Coast of Green- 
land . 282 

Appendix No. V. Winds and Temperatures Recorded at 
Camp Abruzzi, Rudolph Island, From September, 
1903, to April, 1904 ....... 297 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



"On October 15th Our Luminary Dipped Below the 
Horizon in a Glow of Scarlet Fire." {Colour 
Plate) ..... Frontispiece 



FACING PAGE 



Portrait: The late Mr. William Ziegler 
Portrait: Commander Anthony Fiala . 
A Group of Officers of the Expedition 
The Expedition's Dogs at Trono, Norway . 
The Initiations of Polar Explorers 
Awaiting Embarkation .... 
The S. Y. America in the Harbour of Vardo 

Norway ...... 

"We Sailed on Our Way in a Spanking Breeze" 

"Northward Ho!" . . 

" Some of the Dogs Were Lodged on the Forecastle 

Head" . . 

"With every Deckspace Packed with Cargo" 
The Ponies' Ambitions to Eat . 
The Pony "Circus" Just Before His Execution 
View, Taken from the America's Bridge, of the 

Dog Kennels on Top of the Pony Stable 
Hauling the Carcass of a Polar Bear Aboard 

the Ship ...... 

" The Remainder of Our Pack Were Lodged on 

the Forecastle Head" 
The America Entering the Ice . 
The Ice Fields in Barentz Sea . 
" We Could do Nothing but Wait " . 
" Observations Were Made on the Floating Ice for 

Longitude and for Magnetic Declination" . 

XV 



IX- 

3 
10 

13 
i5 

22 

24 
27 
28 

28 
29 

3° 
30 

3 1 
3 2 

3 2 

33 

36* 

37 

38 



xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

" The Waters are Hid as with a Stone and the 

Face of the Deep is Frozen" ... 39 
"The Great Expanse of Ice Gave Little Promise 

of Opening Up" ..... 40 

A Tabular Iceberg near Cape Flora . . .41 

Cape Flora — August 12, 1903 .... 42 

" Heavy Ice Prevented Farther Progress North" 43 
The Stampede of the Ponies . . . Page 45 

Map — Course of the S. Y. America from Vardo, 
Norway, to Teplitz Bay, Rudolph Island, 
Franz Josef Archipelago .... 46 

An Overturned Iceberg near Cape Dillon . . 47 

"We Passed Cape Berentz, the Southeast Ex- 
tremity of Northbrook Island " . . .50 
The America Fighting Her Way up the Brit- 
ish Channel ...... 50 

"We Made Fast Alongside the Heavy Ice of 

Teplitz Bay . . . . . 51 

"The Ship was in Her Death Agony" {Colour 

Plate) . . . . . . ■ ' 54 

"The Voyage- weary Animals Wild for Liberty, 

were Disembarked" . . . . .56 

All that Remained in 1 903 of the Winter Quarters 
Occupied by the Duke of Abruzzi and His 
Companions in 1 899-1 900 . . . -57 

The Duke's Steel Gas Generator . -57 

The Shelter Used by the Italians for Their 

Weather Instruments . . . -57 

Sledging the Cargo Ashore by Help of the Ponies, 

Teplitz Bay . ... 58 

" We Start to Build Our Winter Quarters " . 58 

" A Large Tent was Erected, and in it the Ponies 

and Dogs were Sheltered" . . . -59 

Interior of Pony and Dog Tent . . -59 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



xvii 



FACING PAGE 



Building a House at Camp Abruzzi ... 60 
Laying the Floor ...... 60 

The House Completed: Front and Rear Views . 61 
Our Weather Instrument Shelter . . .62 

The Astronomical Observatory . . . .62 

The Magnetic Observatory . . . .62 

Exercising the Ponies at Camp Abruzzi . . 63 

" We Mounted the Tough Little Equines " . . 63 

The Ponies Proved Invaluable in Sledging the 

Stores from the Ship to Our Camp Site . 63 
Map: Camp Site at Teplitz Bay, Rudolph Island. 66 
"A Thick Gloom Settled Over the Ice of 

Land and Sea" ...... 67 

" We Climbed the Glacier North of the Camp " . 67 
In the Astronomical Observatory at Camp Abruzzi 68 
The America in Winter Quarters in Teplitz 

Bay Early in November. 1903 ... 69 
The Same Identical Spot as the Preceding 

Picture, Showing Metamorphosis After the 

America's Disappearance .... 69 
" A Black Giant Skeleton Marooned in the Icy 

Waste of Teplitz Bay " ... 70 

" Printing the Christmas Edition of the 

Arctic Eagle" . . . . . .71 

Sewing Furs ....... 72 

" Our Christmas Banquet " . . . - 73 

Constructing a Light Sectional Boat . . . 74-' 

Our Lighting Plant Complete . . . -75 

" A Steam Boiler was Constructed " . . -75 

Excavating the Great Snow Storehouse . . 76'' 

LoadingtheSledgesintheShelterof theStorehouse . 76 
A Typical Sledge Pony . . . . -77 

The First Appearance of the Sun . . .78 

Loaded Sledges Placed in Line on the Snow . 79 

A Halt on the Glacier . . . . .82 



xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING PAGE 



ThePonyColumnCrossingRudolphlsland Glacier. 82 
Sledge Party in the Rough Ice North of Cape 

Fligely 83 

A Halt in a Smooth Oasis in the Desert of Rough 

Ice 83 

"The Poor Ponies, with Tails to the Wind and 

Heads Down, Shivered in the Freezing Blast" . 84 
" The Ponies were Surprising in Their Ability to 

Climb and Get Over the Rough Ice " . . 84 

Cape Haberman . . . . . .85 

" We Formed a Happy Camp Circle " . . 85 

" We Reached Cape Auk at Midnight " .86 

The Evening SunOver the Rudolph Island Glacier . 86 
"Teplitz Bay was Frozen Over with a New 

Sheet of Thin Salt Ice" . . . .87 

Our First Camp on the Retreat of 1904 . . 87 

The Retreat of 1904 ..... 88 

Breaking Camp at Cape Richthofen ... 88 
"We Camped near Cape Fisher, the Boldest 

Headland on the Coast " . . . . 89 

The Halt at Cape Fisher ..... 89 

The Camp at Cape Roosevelt . . . .108 

" One of Our Ponies Died from Exhaustion " .108 
Cape Flora ....... 109 

The Last of Our Faithful Ponies . . .109 

Cape Flora ....... 116 

The Coal Mine at Cape Flora, 600 Feet above 

the Level of the Sea . . . . .116 

Sixteen Walruses Were Captured at Cape Flora 

During the Summer of 1904 . . . 117 

Map: Part of Franz Josef Archipelago . . 125 

An August Day at Cape Flora in 1904 . 134 

House-moving, Preparing for Winter at Cape 

Flora ....... 134 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix 



FACING PAGE 



Cape Flora ....... 135 

Camp Point ....... 135 

"At last I Saw Above Me the End of a Rope" 

(Colour Plate) . . . . . 136 

"The Absence of Light, Making Our Advance 

North a March of Faith " (Colour Plate) . 142- 
The Tomb on Saulen's Rocky Height . -150 

The Men Who Stayed at Camp Abrazzi . -151 

Our Christmas Dinner at Camp Abruzzi in 1904. 154 
The Appearance of the Hut on the Return of 

Light in 1905 155 

Busy Days in the Workshop at Camp Abruzzi . 155 
Double-page Cartoon that Appeared in the Christ- 
mas Edition of the Arctic Eagle Published 
at Camp Abruzzi, December 26, 1904 . Page 156 
"A Wind Filled with Drifting Snow Particles 
Striking Our Faces and Turning Our Cheeks 
and Noses White " (Colour Plate) . . 158- 

Camping After a Long Day's March . . . 160. 

The Sun with Two Mock Suns . . . .160 

Entering the Rough Ice . . . . .161 

We Seemed to be in an Immense River of Broken 

Ice ........ 161 

A Mile and a Half North in Eight Hours (Colour 

Plate) ....... 164- 

Soft Snow and Rough Ice . . . .167 

Sledge Teams Waiting to be Assisted Over a Snow- 
covered Pressure Ridge. All of the Men but 
One are Concealed Behind the Mass of Ice 
and Snow ...... 167 

"Our Trail was from Ice Cake to Ice Cake" . 169 
"We Were All Obliged to go Ahead of the Sled- 
ges with Our Picks and Ice Axes to Labor 
at Cutting the Trail and then Return and 



xx LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING PAGE 



Assist the Teams and Sledges One by One 
Over the Rough Road " . . . .169 

" In Other Places We Traversed Monster Pres- 
sure Ridges that Splintered and Thundered 
Under Our Feet " 171 

"The Ice was Rough, Worse than in 1904, and 

very Slow Progress was Made " . . 172 

"It was Difficult to Find a Cake of Ice Large 

Enough for Our Small Party to Camp On" . 174 

"We Found a Heavy Cake Surrounded with Pres- 
sure Ice, the Only Flat Block in Sight, and 
Here We Put Up Our Tents and Unhitched 
Our Tired Dogs " ..... 174 

"We Bent Our Backs Under the Loads" . . 176 

" All that was Visible of the Two Years' Sledge 
Efforts were Four Little Tracks in the Snow 
that Could be Traced Up the Glacier Toward 
the Mysterious North " . . . .176 

" Mr. Porter was on Hand to Greet Me with Sea- 
man Mackiernan, having Reached Camp 
Abruzzi on the 17th of March" . . .178 

Cape Trieste, on the Way to Camp Ziegler, May 

1905 {Colour Plate) . . . . .182 

The Sledge Parties for Kane Lodge and Cape 

Flora Ready to Leave Camp Abruzzi . . 184 

"We Left the Icy Bay of Teplitz Behind Us" . 185- 

On the March South Engineer Hartt Went Ahead, 
While Some Distance Behind I Followed with 
the Two Teams ..... 185 

The Camp After Our First Day's March from 

Teplitz Bay 185 

Crossing a Lead in the Channel Ice — Hauling a 

Team of Dogs Through the Water . . 186 

Camp Ziegler, June 1905 . . . . .186 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



xxi 



FACING PAGE 



" Two Little Houses Were Surrounded by Great 
Embankments of Snow" . 

The Entrance to the Huts at Camp Ziegler 

Sixteen Great Walruses were Secured by the 
Party at Cape Dillon . 

An Incident in a Walrus Hunt . 

Hauling a Dead Walrus on the Ice Foot at 
Cape Dillon ...... 

Wellman's House at Cape Tegetthoff 

William S. Champ ...... 

Anthony Fiala ...... 

Our Last March ...... 

William S. Champ ...... 

The S. Y. Terra Nova — Ziegler Relief Expedition, 
1905 {Colour Plate) . . . . . 

The Arrival of the Relief Ship off Cape Dillon 
July 30, 1905 

Camp Jackson at Cape Flora at the Arrival of 
the Relief Ship. . 

Rescuers and Rescued Meet on the Ice of Abe- 
dare Channel, "and a Memorable Meeting 
it was " . 

The Camp at Cape Dillon where Watch was Kept 
for the Relief Ship — and for Game 

Our Last Sight of the Ice . 

The Relief Ship Arrives off Cape Flora 

The S. Y. Terra Nova at Tromso, Norway, Au- 
gust n, 1905 .... 

"Louise" 

"Billy" 

"Billy" and "Louise" Passengers on the S. Y 
Terra Nova on her Homeward Voyage 

" A Blanket of Thick Arctic Fog Obscuring Vis- 
ion" 



187 
187 

190 
191- 

192 

193 
196 
196 
196 
197 

200 

212 "' 

212 



213 

213 
214 
215 

226- 

227 

227 

227 
257- 



XX11 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING PAGE 



" The Cub Wheeled and Made Straight into the 
Sound, but Only a Short Way When He 
Came Back, Tumbling Down with Bullets 
from Both Rifle and Revolver" . . .266 

Building an Igloo ...... 266 

" It is a Case of Making Dogs Out of Ourselves" 267 
The S. S. Magdalena . . . . .270 

The Two Houses on Bass Rock . . .270 

Captain J. Kjeldsen . . . . .271 

Oliver L. Fassig . . . . . .271 

Map of Franz Joseph Archipelago . . . end 




FAC-SLMTLE OF STAMP PRINTED AND 
ISSUED AT CAMP ABRCZZI, RUDOLF 
ISLAND, IN 1905 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 




Photo by Damp/, Brooklyn 




FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



CHAPTER I 

THE PROBLEM 

"^TAPOLEON is quoted as having once said that if 
he had three things he could conquer the world. 
The first of these was money, the second more 
money, and the third still more money. 

If Napoleon's estimate of the power of money had 
been correct, Waterloo would have been a victory 
instead of a defeat, and his legions, better equipped 
then than in any previous campaign, would not have 
been hampered by conditions internal and external 
and the great commander would not have sighed in 
vain for his grand army of veterans whose bones 
strewed the trail from Moscow to Paris. 

The Polar explorer needs money, but he needs 
other things more. While in the history of almost 
every polar expedition the sad story of imperfect 
preparations through lack of funds can be read, it is 
also true that conditions play an important part. The 
element we call Chance has much to do in the giving 
of success or failure, but the human elements of en- 
durance and courage are the most important of all. 

3 



4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

In the frozen zone there is not the stimulus to effort 
raised by numbers. The soldier in the excitement 
of battle, sustained and cheered by onlooking thou- 
sands, may become a hero; but the Polar explorer 
has a hard, cold, and lonely way in which patience, 
more patience, and still more patience seem to be the 
cardinal requirements. There are few to encourage 
him in his long fight against almost impossible con- 
ditions, and the highest qualities of Christian character 
in the personnel of his party are necessary to achieve 
any measure of success. 

Beyond the geographical and scientific value of the 
discovery of the North Pole, and the solving of 
questions of popular curiosity, another reason exists 
to explain the ceaseless effort to reach that mystic 
point: The Spirit of the Age will never be satisfied 
until the command given to Adam in the beginning — 
the command to subdue the earth — has been obeyed, 
and the ends of the earth have revealed their secrets 
to the eye of man. 

The conquest of the North Pole has a military as 
well as a scientific character. To reach 90 North 
Latitude from the northern limits of Greenland or 
the Franz Josef Archipelago, an expedition party 
would be obliged to make a forced march of at least 
one thousand miles from its base of supplies, the ex- 
pedition column of men and animals subsisting upon 
provisions carried along. 

From Rudolph Island, the northernmost land in the 
Franz Josef Archipelago, to the Pole is about five 
hundred miles, over fields of rugged, moving ice that 
drift continually. Allowing for pressure ridges and 



THE PROBLEM 5 

open water lanes, the distance of five hundred miles 
would be augmented instead of diminished by the 
general twist and zig-zag direction of the line of march. 
Of course the return distance of five hundred miles 
must be considered, for there would be little value in 
reaching the Pole unless the explorer returned. The 
rough character of the ice and the fact that it is mov- 
ing and continually changing its form make it im- 
possible to station auxiliary depots of supplies on the 
ice itself. Even if the ice were stationary it would 
be almost impossible to find a cache after a few days, 
for the wind sometimes obliterates a well marked 
trail in a few minutes, the flying drift covering every- 
thing with a solid hard blanket of packed snow. 

A team of nine dogs, the unit of transportation in 
the north, consumes about nine pounds of food a day, 
or one pound of pemmican per dog, the human driver 
about three pounds, making a total of twelve pounds 
a day. If ten miles a day could be averaged — though 
it has never been done — in one hundred days the jour- 
ney to and from the Pole could be accomplished. 
At twelve pounds a day the total amount of food re- 
quired by a driver and dog team would be twelve 
hundred pounds. Through experience it has been 
found that the sledges go to pieces, no matter how well 
built, if loaded with more than six hundred pounds, 
which is the food allowance for only half the distance 
There is also to be considered the necessary dead 
weights of tent, sleeping bag, cooking apparatus, 
extra clothing, ammunition, firearms, nautical in- 
struments, and kayak — the last a light boat for use on 
the return march when melting snows and ice, with 



6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the motion of the Polar pack, open great lanes of 
water across the explorer's path. 

Dr. Nansen, in his record-breaking trip with but 
one man and three dog teams, left his ship at the high 
northing of 84 degrees and reached 86° 13' N. Lat. 
But, despite the decided advantage of a start from 
so high a base he was obliged on his retreat to Franz 
Josef Archipelago, to feed his dogs to his dogs, and in the 
end he and Johansen drew the two remaining sledges 
to land themselves. 

Capt. Cagni, with a party from the expedition led 
by the Duke of the Abruzzi, broke Nansen's record 
by about twenty miles, reaching 86° 33 r N. Lat. He 
started from a base on Rudolph Island and succeeded 
in making his splendid march by the use of supporting 
parties that were detached and sent back to the base 
camp as the main body advanced, each supporting 
party carrying food for the advance of the entire 
column and its own return. The first detachment 
of three men never found its way back to camp. The 
men probably starved to death while trying to cross 
the rough ice that separated them from their comrades 
on the Island. The rough ice was caused by the 
breaking into pressure ridges of the comparatively 
smooth newly frozen lanes over which the sledge 
column made its northward march. 

The question of food then is important. A remark 
of General Grant's that " an army travels on its stom- 
ach " is now a maxim in text-books on military logistics 
and puts into few words a truth accepted ever since 
men went to war. If it is true of an army that operates 
in a cultivated or partially cultivated country that its 



THE PROBLEM 7 

progress is determined by the excellence of its com- 
missary arrangements, and by the certainty and celerity 
with which the food supplies reach the individual 
soldier and animal, how much more true must it be 
of the Polar explorer who operates in a decidedly 
hostile and uncultivated territory, where there are no 
cornfields or henroosts along the line of march, but 
instead an active enemy in every wind that blows from 
the north, and opposition to advance in every pres- 
sure ridge and water lane that crosses his path. 



CHAPTER II 

EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION 

TN AUGUST of 1902 the Baldwin-Ziegler Polar 
* Expedition returned to Norway after an ab- 
sence of a year in the Franz Josef Archipelago. The 
expedition ship, the steam yacht America, had win- 
tered at Camp Ziegler on Alger Island, 8o° 24/ N 
Lat. from where a large sledge party in the spring of 
1902 transported about 40,000 pounds of pemmican 
to Cape Auk (8i° 43' N. Lat.), the southwestern end 
of Rudolph Island, four miles south of the Duke of 
the Abruzzi's station at Teplitz Bay. 

On the return of the expedition to Norway, the late 
William Ziegler, who had so liberally financed it, 
resolved to send a second party in seach of the North 
Pole. It was not until December of 1902 that a leader 
was chosen. Mr. Ziegler then gave the command to 
me with instructions to equip and sail north in the 
following spring. 

Only a few months remained for preparation, a 
large store of provisions and an extensive equipment 
had to be purchased, and many things devised and 
manufactured. The steam yacht America, formerly 
the Dundee whaler Esquimau, after her year in the 
north, was in a condition requiring docking and 
extensive repairs before she could again be headed to- 
ward the ice fields of the Arctic Circle. Nothing 



EARLY DAYS OP THE EXPEDITION 9 

remained of the large sledge equipment of the former 
expedition and only a small amount of food stores, 
so small that it could not be considered. Fortunately 
there were left 183 dogs, and five Siberian ponies on 
the small island of Trono, some miles south of Tromso, 
Norway, where they had been placed for the winter 
on the return of the America in 1902. 

In addition to a large pack of dogs a number of 
Siberian ponies were taken on the 1901-1902 expedi- 
tion. These little creatures behaved so well and 
proved of such value that I made provision to take 
more of them this time. The ponies had been used 
with success by Jackson and Baldwin and it seemed 
to me that they could be trained during the autumn 
and early spring to follow one another "in trace," 
one man in charge of several pony sledges, just as our 
pack trains travel in mining districts and in the army, 
for I realised that if a driver had to go with each sledge 
whether it was drawn by a team of dogs or a pony, 
the Polar problem must remain unsolved. 

Dependence had also to be placed on a good pack 
of dogs, to be fed on the ponies as the latter' s sledge 
loads disappeared, the ponies to serve as food on the 
hoof. With the ponies came the necessity of provid- 
ing tons of hay in compressed bales. Hay could be 
purchased in America in bales only a quarter the size 
of foreign bales and weighing twice as much, so all 
the hay was transported from this side of the ocean 
for the sake of economy in space. There were also 
tons of oats to be purchased and transported to Tron- 
dhjem, which was to be our sailing port. Corn could 
be bought in Russia, one of the few countries in Europe 



io FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

that produce more than enough for their own con- 
sumption. Thirty-six tons of Spratt's dog-cakes were 
purchased and about 10,000 pounds of tallow as sup- 
plementary food for the ever hungry dogs.* The 
aggregate weight of our food supplies was about ninety- 
eight tons and the stores alone, exclusive of meats, 
occupied 7,200 feet of space. 

In addition to the commissary stores for men and 
animals coal had to be provided and a large equip- 
ment of sledges, harness, clothing, furs, footwear, cook- 
ing apparatus, boats, explosives, tentage, lumber for 
a house, and the thousand little things necessary for 
the protracted stay of a large party of men and ani- 
mals far from the shops and supply stations of civil- 
isation. Before the numberless parts of the equip- 
ment had been received for shipment, many hours were 
spent in calculating the available space aboard the 
America and in measuring the cargo. 

In the organisation of the party the question of 
personnel was a troublesome one particularly in view 
of the limited time at my disposal. That the party 
should be all American was the desire of the late Mr. 
Ziegler and myself, but it was not until nearly all the 
supplies were arranged for and the entire equipment 
ordered that we succeeded in finding a native American, 
Captain Edwin Coffin of Edgartown, Martha's Vine- 

* It may be interesting to know what a body of 39 men need in a two 
years' expedition. Allowing ij lbs. of meat a day for each man — the 
U. S. Army allowance in a temperate climate — 39 men dispose of 42,705 
pounds, or over 20 tons of meat. For a cold climate, of course, more has 
to be allowed. 

In the same period on the army plan, 39 men consume about 145 bis. 
of flour, 2,600 pounds of coffee, over 8,000 pounds of sugar, and so on 
down the list of vegetables and stores. 



EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION n 

yard, Mass., to navigate the expedition ship. Capt. 
Coffin, in turn, after much trouble, got together his 
officers and crew, a number of them experienced 
whalers. Because of the high price that whalebone 
was bringing in the market, whaling, the last few years, 
had been a lucrative business, and, as all who serve 
on a whaler share in the profits of the cruise, it was 
not an easy task to get able men to leave their favourite 
hunting grounds for the field of exploration. 

For the sake of organisation I had divided the ex- 
pedition party into three departments, a Field De- 
partment, a Deck Department, and an Engine Depart- 
ment. Capt. Coffin, as Navigator and Master of the 
vessel, was of course in charge of the Deck Depart- 
ment. In charge of our Engine Department was Henry 
P. Hartt, a marine engineer of sixteen years' exper- 
ience aboard steam whalers, who had passed nine 
winters in the Arctic and had been with the Baldwin- 
Zeigler party in 1901-1902. For the Field Department 
I received numerous applications, many of the American 
members of the last expedition wishing to go north 
again. Where possible, preference was given to them, 
for, having lived and laboured with them through the 
trials of an Arctic voyage, I knew them as I could not 
know others. 

It was odd how quickly the Arctic lost its terrors 
after the return to civilisation. During the long, 
dark winter of 1901-1902, every night, after the work- 
ing hours of the period we called day were over, we 
would huddle together for warmth around a tiny 
stove in the cabin of the America and talk of warmer 
countries. Two of the men avowed their intention 



12 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

of going on an expedition to the island of Borneo 
as soon as the America returned to Norway; two others 
stated that they were going to Mexico; another ex- 
pressed a wish to explore Africa, and one of the doctors 
of the party said he meant to go to the equator and 
never travel farther than five degrees north or south 
of it the rest of his days. Yet on the eve of another 
expedition these men applied to go north once 
more. 

The Field Department comprised the members of 
the Scientific Staff and those of the expedition company 
not signed on the ship's articles. Among these were 
the Surgeon, Assistant Surgeon, Assistant Surgeon in 
charge of the dogs, a Veterinarian, a Quartermaster, 
a Commissary and a number of assistants. 

William J. Peters of the U. S. Geological Survey 
and representative of the National Geographic So- 
ciety, was chosen as Chief Scientist and Second in 
Command of the Expedition. Russell W. Porter, 
First Assistant Scientist and Artist of the Expedition, 
was commissioned Third in Command while in the 
field. The following is a list of the members of the 
expedition: 

i. Anthony Fiala, Brooklyn, N. Y., Commander of 
the Expedition. 

2. William J. Peters, Washington, D. C, Chief 

Scientist, and Second in Command of the 
Expedition. 

Field Department 

3. Russell W. Porter, Springfield, Vermont; First As- 

sistant Scientist and Artist. 




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EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION 13 

4. R. R. Tafel, Philadelphia, Pa., Second Assistant 

Scientist. 

5. Francis Long, Brooklyn, N. Y., Weather Observer. 

6. George Shorkley, M. D., Camden, Maine, Surgeon. 

7. Charles L. Seitz, M. D., Evansville, Ind., Assistant 

Surgeon. 

8. J. Colin Vaughn, Medical Student, Forest Hill, 

N. J., Second Assistant Surgeon in charge of 
the dogs. 

9. H. H. Newcomb, D. V. S., Milford, Mass., Veter- 

inarian. 

10. Chas. E. Rilliet, St. Louis, Mo., Quartermaster 

in charge of equipment. 

11. John W. Truden, Pittsfield, Mass., Commissary. 

12. Jefferson F. Moulton, Sergeant Troop G, 2d 

Cavalry, U. S. A., detailed by courtesy of the 
War Department to serve in the Expedition. 
He served as Assistant Quartermaster in care 
of the ponies. 

13. Spencer W. Stewart, Brooklyn, N. Y., Assistant 

Commissary. 

14. John Vedoe, Boston Mass., Assistant Quarter- 

master. 

15. Pierre LeRoyer, Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, 

Assistant in care of dogs. 

Deck Department 

16. Edwin Coffin, Edgartown, Mass., Master. 

17. Edward Haven, Lynn, Mass., First Officer. 

18. James W. Nichols, New Bedford, Second Officer. 



i 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Crew 

19. Peter L. Tessem, Trondhjem, Norway, Carpenter. 

20. Franklin Cowing, New Bedford, Mass. 

21. Allen W. Montrose, Lowell, Mass. 

22. Wm. R. Myers, Boston, Mass. 

23. Chas. Kunold, New York, N. Y. 

24. Harry Burns (Harry Paxton), Dunkirk, N. Y. 

25. D. S. Mackiernan, Dorchester, Mass. 

26. Alfred Beddow, London, England. 

27. Elijah Perry, New Bedford, Mass. 

28. Gustave Meyer, New York, N. Y. 

29. William Ross, New York, N. Y. 

30. John J. Duffy, Waltham, Mass. 

Engine Department 

31. Henry P. Hartt, Portsmouth, Va., Chief Engineer. 

32. Chas. E. Hudgins, Norfolk, Va., First Assistant 

Engineer. 

33. Anton Vedoe, Boston, Mass., Second Assistant 

Engineer. 

34. George D. Butland, Brooklyn, N. Y., Fireman. 

35. Augustinsen Hovlick, Trondhjem, Norway, Fire- 

man. 

36. Sigurd Myhre, Trondhjem, Norway, Fireman. 

Steward's Department 

37. Bernard E. Spencer, Boston, Mass., Steward. 

38. Clarence W. Thwing, Boston, Mass., Cook. 

39. James Dean, New Bedford, Mass., Cabin Boy. 

The America had been left through the winter at 
Tromso, a town above the Arctic Circle in the north 
of Norway, a place noted as a depot of supply for many 
a Polar expedition. Her American crew left New 





' WE CROSSED THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION WHO HAD NOT 
CROSSED THE PARALLEL BEFORE, WERE SEIZED BY THEIR COMRADES WHO HAD, AND 
INITIATED AS POLAR EXPLORERS BY BEING THROWN OVERBOARD WHILE THE STEAMER 
WAS IN MOTION, THEIR SAFETY FIRST INSURED BY A LONG LINE MADE FAST AROUND 
THEIR WAISTS." 



EARLY DAYS OF THE EXPEDITION 15 

York for Tromso in March, 1903. As nearly all meat 
and food supplies and equipment had to be shipped 
from the United States, the stores were ordered early 
to allow at least a month's time on freighters from 
New York to Hamburg, from which point they were 
forwarded to Trondhjem. 

The mixing of the cargo had troubled us consider- 
ably on the last expedition, and, to obviate a similar 
confusion this season, I had a number of conventional 
signs made into stencils, and had the cases of supplies 
marked on all sides, so that a glance would reveal the 
contents, no matter in what position the box might 
be. For example, a red star signified that the case 
contained pemmican; a red maltese cross meant pre- 
served or canned meat; the crescent designated com- 
missary stores; a red crescent, condensed food; a 
blue crescent, breadstuff s or flour; a green crescent, 
vegetables; black always denoted equipment; the 
horseshoe surrounding a cross was the sign of the 
Veterinary Department; and so on. 

In Trondhjem, where the cases were unloaded from 
the freight steamers for customs house inspection before 
loading aboard the America, the Norwegian freight 
handlers had no difficulty in arranging the cases ac- 
cording to the signs. When the marking was com- 
pleted, the boxes had a curious appearance looking 
much like a number of enormous playing-cards; but 
the value of being able to tell at once the contents of 
a case in the dimly lighted place between decks or in 
the hold of the ship, can hardly be overestimated, and 
many times during the voyage we had occasion to 
test and recognise the value of the signs. 



CHAPTER III 

WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 

/ "PHE early days of the expedition were char- 
acterised by many departures and farewells. 
My wish had been to have the America brought over 
the ocean from Tromso to New York City to be re- 
paired, and to receive her cargo on this side of the 
water, but the limited time at my command would not 
allow of it. So all members of the expedition, except 
three men engaged in Trondhjem, were sent over the 
Atlantic on the passenger steamers to Norway. 

The Chief Engineer left in January 1903, for Tromso, 
for which port the officers and crew sailed from New 
York City on March 10th. Two days later I left for 
the same port, via England, Germany, and Denmark, 
for the purpose of purchasing supplies in all these 
countries. I reached Tromso March 31st in a snow 
storm. I was glad to find that my American crew 
had arrived some days before. The expedition ship 
was anchored out in the fjord, her decks covered with 
snow, and although a force of men had been busy 
cleaning her during the spring she still had a dis- 
mal, desolate air, her ice worn planking, paint 
denuded sides, and ragged rigging showing the need 
of much overhauling before she would be seaworthy 
again. The only cheerful place was the engine room, 

where I was glad to find that Engineer Hartt had put 

16 






WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 17 

the engine together and was ready to turn on steam. 
A French-Canadian, Pierre LeRoyer by name, who 
had acted as guide in the north Canadian woods for 
Mr. Ziegler in many hunting and camping trips, and 
who accompanied Mr. Champ on the Relief Expe- 
dition in 1902, had been left aboard the America as 
a watchman during the winter. I had written him 
to use all the heavy furs aboard, left from the previous 
expedition, in the manufacture of one-man sleeping 
bags and had also instructed him to make mittens 
and footwear of fur. I was glad to find that he had 
improved the time and could show me twenty-five 
complete sleeping bags in addition to a number of 
articles of wearing apparel. Furs suitable for cloth- 
ing could not be purchased in Norway or Sweden. 
All the garments offered to me by the fur merchants 
of those countries were too heavy, being made of the 
fur of the adult wild deer, useless for the purpose of a 
sledge expedition on account of its weight, the hides 
being too thick and the fur too long. So I was obliged 
to order them from Russia and over 800 fawn skins, 
of from two to five months old deer, of the domesticated 
variety were purchased. I had to be content with skins 
tanned in the regular commercial way, very beautiful 
to look upon, but not as durable by half as the skins 
tanned by the native Samoyede. To have secured the 
latter it would have been necessary for me to make a 
journey along the Siberian coast for the purpose of trad- 
ing with the Samoyedes, and for that there was not time. 
Fortunately, through Mr. Bruno Paetz, the British pro- 
consul at Archangel, I was enabled to secure a num- 
ber of Samoyede coats made of the skins desired. 



1 8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

There was not a dry-dock in Tromso large enough 
for the America, so, manned by her American crew, 
with Capt. Keldjsen for pilot, she left for Trondhjem, 
where she was to be repaired and loaded, and from 
where she was later to sail on her voyage north. 

On my return to America in April, arrangements 
were made for the departure of the members of the 
Field Department from New York City for Trondhjem. 

[Copy of order sent to Field Dept. members of the Expedition] 
Ziegler Polar Expedition 
60 Liberty Street 

New York, May 9th, 1903. 
general orders no. i. 
Sir: 

You are hereby ordered to report at the Astor House, New York City, 
on the afternoon of May 25th, ready for sailing the morning of the 27th 
of May for Norway. 

2. Accommodations have been arranged at the Astor House and you 
are to report immediately upon arrival there to Mr. William J. Peters, 
Second in Command, who is to conduct the expedition party to Norway. 

3. Transportation is provided on the Steamship Helig Olav, sailing 
from Pier, foot of 17th Street, Hoboken, N. J., May 27th. Mr. Charles E. 
Rilliet, Quartermaster, will arrange for transportation and baggage. 

4. Members are expected to carry all their baggage, outside of hand- 
bags, etc., in two trunks — one steamer trunk to be carried aboard ex- 
pedition steamer America — the other to be left in storehouse at Tromso, 
with supply of clothing until return of expedition. 

5. Clothing has been provided for the use of the members after August 
1st, 1903, but it is advised that each man provide himself with two blue 
flannel Army shirts, two pair of heavy shoes, of larger size than usually 
worn, three suits of medium weight underwear, a supply of socks and 
handkerchiefs, and several suits of old clothing, and a small sewing and 
darning outfit. 

6. Every man should be careful to see that his teeth are in good con- 
dition before leaving. 

7. This order to be acknowledged immediately on receipt. 

The Commanding Officer presents his compliments to the members of 
the Field Department of the expedition, and wishes them a pleasant 
trip across the ocean, regretting that necessity for an earlier departure 
prevents his accompanying the party to Trondhjem. 

Anthony Fiala, Commanding. 



WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 19 

The last shipments were made from the United States 
and eleven days later I was once again at sea on my 
way to Norway. On arrival at Trondhjem, I found 
that the repairs on the ship were almost completed, 
and she was moved to a dock to receive her coal and 
stores. Leaving the America again I hurried by rail 
across Norway and Sweden to Stockholm, and from 
there by steamer to St. Petersburg, and then by the 
slow moving Russian railroad made my way to Arch- 
angel, to inspect the furs that had been ordered and 
to assure myself of their suitability. On return to 
Trondhjem I found the storehouses and dock filled 
with cases, bales, barrels, and bags. The great ship- 
ment of stores from six countries had arrived and the 
work was well under way. An interested crowd of 
Norwegians watched us load the vessel and several 
ship captains there volunteered the information that 
they believed it would require two ships to transport 
all our supplies. In addition to this great cargo we 
purchased lumber with which to construct a house 
on some Arctic shore for our winter quarters. 

For the reception of the thirty ponies we were to 
take along I ordered a stable built on the deck amid- 
ships. The floor was raised and slatted to keep the 
ponies' hoofs dry, and stalls were built so as to protect 
the little animals from accident during the voyage. 
On the roof of the pony stable a dog pen was constructed 
as all space had to be utilised. 

The America's appearance now offered a pleasing 
contrast to the last view I had had of her. With rig- 
ging taut, spars cleaned and painted, and a new smoke- 
stack, I hardly recognised the old ship. Under the 



so FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

direction of First Officer Haven the cargo was soon 
stowed and the great mass of supplies and stores went 
down between decks and into the hold. When at 
last the decks too were laden it took quite a degree 
of agility to move from one end of the ship to the other. 
The members of the Field Department arrived in 
Trondhjem in early June and helped the crew in the 
loading of the ship. By noon of June 23 everything 
was aboard. Mr. William Champ, Mr. Ziegler's secre- 
tary, who was to accompany us to Archangel, came 
aboard, and, at six p. m. we steamed from the dock at 
Trondhjem followed by the cheers of a large company 
of Norwegians who had assembled to see us depart. 
We arrived at the little island of Trono early in the 
morning of the 26th and took aboard 183 dogs, twenty- 
five of which were pups about five months old, and 
five little Siberian ponies looking the worse for their 
experience on the last expedition. We then steamed 
for the famous little town of Tromso on the northern 
coast of Norway in whose harbour many an expedition 
ship had anchored before. On our way there we crossed 
the Arctic Circle, and all members of the expedition 
who had not passed that parallel before, were seized 
by their comrades who had, and initiated as Polar 
explorers by being thrown overboard while the 
steamer was in motion, their safety first insured by 
a long line made fast around their waists. As they 
were hauled on deck spluttering and half drowned, 
Father Neptune, impersonated by one of the old tars 
aboard, scrubbed down the victims with a deck broom 
to the amusement of all. We stayed at Tromso only 
a day to take on some supplies, then hurried our 



WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 21 

steamer's bow northward through the beautiful fjords 
of Norway to the town of Vardo, a curious little place 
that betrays itself ere you see it if the wind blows 
your way. From Vardo we steamed down through 
the White Sea toward Archangel, the metropolis of 
northern Russia and Siberia, the White City on the 
White Sea. We arrived off Solombal, the port of 
Archangel, at 2 p. m. on July 2nd. On going ashore 
I was glad to find that the twenty-five ponies ordered 
from Alexander Trontheim, who purchased dogs for 
Nansen, Wellman, Baldwin, and the Duke of the Ab- 
ruzzi, were all on hand and ready for embarkation. 
Several particularly tough looking specimens had 
been brought more than 800 miles overland fom Siberia. 
Stephan, one of the Russians who had been with the 
previous expedition, a splendid fellow, with tears in 
his eyes begged for the privilege of accompanying 
us. He said he did not wish any salary but would 
go for his clothing and food. But there was no 
room aboard for Stephan; we were crowded without 
adding to our number, so I regretfully denied his 
request. 

At Solombal we coaled the bunkers which were quite 
empty after our long trip from Tromso. A lighter 
came alongside with twenty-five dogs and twenty- 
five of the most beautiful, lively Siberian ponies, 
intelligent and well conditioned. I succeeded in get- 
ting a moving picture as they were hauled aboard. 
About sixteen tons of oats and corn were taken on 
as provender and, almost like the proverbial "last 
straw," a boat came alongside with still another ad- 
dition to the ship's load— our precious furs. Cap- 



22 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

tain Coffin said to me rather grimly, " I think we will 
have to carry the furs in the main top." But they 
were finally placed safely under cover of the fore 
hatch. 

In addition to the work of cleaning and loading the 
vessel we had visitors to entertain. Some very polite 
and intelligent officers from a Russian hydrographic 
expedition came aboard. I have to laugh when I 
think of it. I wore a pair of khaki trousers and a 
rough flannel shirt. Minus a hat, my hair tangled 
and artistic but not neat, I had been directing the 
arrangement of pony stalls and helping the men trim 
ship and was hardly in a presentable condition. But 
I escorted the officers around, all of them in resplen- 
dent uniforms covered with decorations and gold lace, 
some of them carrying jewelled short swords; one of 
them wearing the famous iron cross. 

We left Archangel on our northward course just 
before midnight on Independence Day with the glowing 
orb of the sun cut on our northern horizon. As we 
steamed toward it the great, burning, red-and-golden 
luminary rose, flooding us with light and giving us a 
radiant pathway toward the Great White Sea. A 
number of Russians cheered us as, under the impetus 
of our fast revolving screw, we gained headway to- 
ward the river's mouth and passed the city of Solombal, 
the Russian flags politely dipping and the whistles 
of many steamers blowing us their God-speed. The 
Russian authorities had been most kind, remitting all 
harbour and pilot charges. 

Our progress to Vardo, where we were to stop for 
a few hours to take on more coal before leaving civili- 




o 



g 



WE SAY FAREWELL TO AMERICA 23 

sation for the ice, was delayed by a gale that sprang 
up on the seventh of July and blew "great guns" for 
about forty-eight hours. It meant hard work for 
those who were not seasick. Neither Mr. Champ nor 
I is subject to seasickness as a rule, but while the storm 
lasted we could do little but lie in our bunks and poke 
fun at each other when a respite from our distressed 
condition permitted. We made efforts — costly efforts ! 
I managed to crawl up over the cargo as far as the 
ponies and dogs several times to satisfy myself as to 
their condition. Everything was attended to as well 
as one could expect and none of the animals or cargo 
was lost. 

At Vardo we bade good-bye to Mr. Champ, who had 
accompanied us thus far. Before leaving I went 
aboard his steamer, and in the privacy of his cabin we 
talked over the affairs of the expedition and of the 
Relief Ship that he was to bring up in the summer of 
1904. We agreed that Cape Flora, on Northbrook 
Island, would be the place of rendezvous, as a large 
store of provisions was there as well as houses and 
boats. I was to send a party to Cape Flora early in 
the spring of 1904 with letters through which, should 
the America not succeed in reaching Cape Flora 
from her winter northing before the Relief Ship ar- 
rived there, Mr. Champ would learn of our where- 
abouts and of the success or failure of the expedition. 
We discussed the probable ice conditions to be en- 
countered and the personnel of the exploring party, 
for I realised that the fate of the undertaking de- 
pended chiefly upon the moral fibre of the men. 

I hoped to reach Crown Prince Rudolph Island with 



24 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the ship and winter in some safe harbour near there, 
or, the ice permitting, cast anchor at Coburg Island. 
From that point, in the spring of 1904, a march north 
with a large column of men, dogs, ponies, and sledges, 
would be made, the ponies to serve as dog food as the 
loads on their sledges were reduced. The sledge party 
was to be composed of a number of supporting parties 
that were to be detached as the main column advanced 
and sent back to the base camp, the final advance 
party to consist of four or five men, who would strike 
for Cape Flora on their return should they be carried 
toward the west by the drift. 

I told Mr. Champ that the America would start for 
Cape Flora just as soon as she could get free in the 
summer of 1904 and not to wait for the sledge parties 
should they still be in the field; that I would leave 
food along the British Channel on my advance north 
with the ship and, if necessary, on her return to Cape 
Flora where she would await the sledge parties and 
the Relief Ship. 

Mr. Champ left at midnight. The Norwegian 
steamer, upon whose deck he stood, passed close to the 
America, the steamers saluting each other by the dip- 
ping of flags and the shrieking of the steam sirens 
while the men of the expedition party cheered loudly. 

The following day, Friday, the tenth of July, after 
fresh water and about fifty tons of coal had been taken 
aboard, we raised anchor and at six in the evening left 
the harbour with our bow pointed north. A fresh breeze 
was blowing from the southwest and, to save our pre- 
cious coal, steam was shut off, and with all canvas set 
we sailed on our way in a spanking breeze. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE "AMERICA" FORCES HER WAY NORTH 

f^N THE afternoon of July 13th, we met the ice at 

^ Longitude 38 37' E. and Latitude 74 51' 
N., and there our progress north was barred by the 
close-packed, crystal fields. We steamed easterly 
in hope of finding an open water lead, but without 
success. On the 18th we sighted 'Nova Zembla and 
continued on our easterly and southerly course along 
the edge of the ice in an endeavour to find an opening 
near the land. But we were disappointed. Capt. 
Coffin suggested that it would be best to turn the ship 
around and return to Longitude 49 where the ice 
seemed loosest and then force our way north, to which 
suggestion I agreed as the only thing to do. So we 
steamed to where the ice appeared to make in to the 
north, and there we spoke a little Norwegian sealing 
schooner. Captain Coffin and I boarded her, taking 
with us an interpreter, our Norse carpenter, Tessem; 
we also carried a bag of mail, our last letters home. 
The sealers told it was a very bad year for ice, the 
worst they had ever experienced, and predicted that 
we could not reach Franz Josef Land, a prophecy 
which the cheerful spirit that prevailed then aboard 
the America would not endorse. 

The ice in the Barentz Sea is on the approach of 
summer broken into fields by the action of winds and 

2 S 



26 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

sea. A southerly wind is most effective as it brings 
with it the roll of the great open ocean southward, 
smashing the ice-fields. A northern wind then separates 
the floes and allows the swell of the sea to penetrate 
further. Thus before the end of summer the whole 
sea of ice is often broken into comparatively small 
floes between which it is usually possible to pick a way 
north to Franz Josef Land. 

We seemed to have struck a late season. The 
ice was then about breaking, but the great lanes of 
water that should have given us a passage between 
the floes to our destination were not to be found. We 
steamed slowly along the edge of floe after floe of 
field ice, some of the floes from thirty to sixty miles 
long with never a break. Time and time again we 
were obliged to steam in great circles, miles out of 
our course, to work around the vast white mass. 
Under favourable conditions the voyage from Vardo, 
Norway, to Cape Flora, in the Franz Josef Archipelago, 
can be made in less than six days. But day after day 
passed without any appreciable progress north, 
and the impatient American spirit chafed under the 
delay, and many a young member of the expedition 
received his first lesson in Arctic exploration — the 
lesson of patience. 

Possibly nowhere on earth was there just such a situa- 
tion or quite such a community as existed aboard our 
ship. The America flew the burgee of the New York 
Yacht Club and had a commission as a pleasure yacht 
from the Treasury Department of the United States 
Government. But she was anything but a pleasure 
yacht. Crowded with thirty-nine men, 218 dogs, and 



' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 2 7 

thirty ponies, and with every available deck space 
packed with cargo, she had more the appearance of an 
overloaded freighter or cattle steamer. Hard manual 
labour was the portion of all alike. In addition to the 
regular work of the ship the animals had to be cared 
for, and with the crowded condition of the decks it 
was a difficult matter to fill the bunkers, and all hands, 
Field Department members as well as crew, were 
obliged to take part in the dirty work of passing coal. 

We carried a heavy deck-load of cases, compressed 
hay, and coal. Amidships the ponies were stalled in 
a structure of timber. This rough stable was floored 
and roofed, and upon the roof, surrounded by a bul- 
wark of thin boards, a number of the dogs were chained ; 
the remainder of our pack were lodged on the fore- 
castle head, where they passed the time away barking 
and howling in unison with their comrades on top of 
the pony stable, varying the monotony of their chained 
imprisonment by innumerable fights. Any dog with- 
in reach of another would improve the slightest oppor- 
tunity for a quarrel, and with the savage snarling of 
the combatants the whole pack would yelp and bark 
encouragement, the result being general disorder. 
The noise generally brought Dr. Vaughn, who was in 
charge of the dogs, and Pierre LeRoyer, his assistant, 
who, with the aid of whips, speedily restored order. 
Even the ponies seemed possessed of the spirit of com- 
bativeness and bit each others necks when they were 
not engaged in chewing up the lumber of which the 
stable was constructed. 

There was not room enough for all the ponies in 
the stable and five were tied up alongside the ship's 



28 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

rail. These had to be watched constantly as they 
endeavoured to eat all the rope within reach, be- 
sides chewing up the rail and eating out places in the 
deck made soft by the constant wash of the sea- water. 

All of July passed with little distance to our credit. 
Again and again we were forced to tie up to the 
ice, the ship's yards and rigging glittering with ice, 
while a blanket of thick, damp, Arctic fog obscured 
the vision. At other times, the sky above our northern, 
eastern, and western horizons was white with the 
reflection of ice, the ominous "ice blink" that proved 
the absence of open water. 

With the floes under pressure, we could do nothing 
but wait until a change in the wind caused the fields 
to separate. Then the America, though overloaded 
and weighted down at the head, under full steam, 
would squeeze her way between the floes, after charg- 
ing the frozen masses, and hammer her way sturdily 
northward. 

"Bucking" the ice requires skill and judgment and 
was always an exciting experience, particularly when 
viewed from the vantage-point of the crow's nest where 
the Captain, the Mate, and myself passed much of our 
time. The ship would be slowly backed in the narrow 
channel she had broken between the fields until there 
were about a thousand yards of water space. Then, 
from his position at the mast head, the Captain would 
send the signal for full speed ahead. With smoke 
pouring in great clouds from her funnel and mingling 
with hissing live steam, the engine throbbing and 
pounding under the strains of its supreme effort — Hartt, 
the engineer, was forcing his pet — men lining the rig- 




' NORTHWARD HO 




' SOME OF THE DOGS WERE LODGED ON THE FORECASTLE HEAD ' 



' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 2 9 

ging to mark the advance toward the coveted stretch 
of clear water, the America would crash into the heavy, 
glassy mass and under the impetus her great hulk 
would rise out of the sea and roll from side to side, as 
the ice broke and splintered under her armoured fore- 
foot. Dogs barked and whined in terror; ponies 
stamped and stumbled as the impact of ship and floe 
threw them almost off their feet. Up in the crow's 
nest, where every motion was intensified, we hung on 
like cherries. Sometimes, it seemed that, with her 
heavy top load, the America must "turn turtle," but 
the ice always broke and, at last, on an even keel, we 
would gather steam to buck once more. 

The ice had to be carefully watched and the course 
of every little water lead traced from the crow's nest 
before the ship's nose was pushed into it. In going 
south, toward the open sea, almost every lane of water 
can be trusted as leading toward safety, but, in forcing 
a way north it is like going toward the small end of a 
funnel, and, in a close season, many an opening, that 
from the limited view circle of deck and rigging seemed 
to stretch to the very edge of the earth, resolved itself 
into what is technically termed a "blind lead" ending 
in solid ice. 

Captain Coffin, through the knowledge gained in 
many years of Arctic whaling, kept carefully out of 
these traps, which had caused the destruction of the 
Jeannette, the Tegeihoff, and many another Arctic 
going ship, and we did very little useless steaming. 
Under the influence of the winds and currents the ice 
fields were either closing and under pressure, or separat- 
ing and relaxing. At the times of pressure it was 



3 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

useless to attempt to force a way, and we could only 
stand by and wait. Every halt of the ship was ac- 
cepted with impatience by some of the company who, 
though it was their first experience on a Polar sea, 
freely gave their opinions as to how the ship should be 
managed in the ice. The Captain at first thought it 
amusing, and often asked me to look down over the 
edge of the crow's nest to see his "ice pilots," strung 
in the rigging and on the forecastle head with their 
eyes glued to the ice. 

On July 30th we had stopped the ship in a little 
open hole of water from which two blind leads extended, 
one threading its narrow way in a northwest, the other, 
in a northeasterly direction. Captain Coffin and I, in 
the crow's nest, anxiously examined both through 
our binoculars and with the long ship's telescope but 
could find no other evidence of water, and the horizon 
was white with the " ice blink. " The Captain said to 
me, " We can enter either lead, but it would be foolish 
for we can only steam about three miles in one, or 
about four miles in the other. If we wait here, the 
chances are, that one of the leads will open and the 
other close; we will then be in a position to take the 
one that is open and push on." I saw the wisdom of 
his judgment at once. and agreed that waiting was the 
only thing to do. On my way down from the crow's 
nest, I could see, from the lower level, one of the leads 
showing water almost to the horizon and could under- 
stand the critical comments made by some of my 
comrades at the seemingly unnecessary delay. 

So much in life depends upon the View Point, and 
the higher our elevation above the earth level, and the 




' THE PONIES ENDEAVOURED TO EAT UP ALL THE ROPE WITHIN REACH, BESIDES CHEWING 
THE RAIL AND EATING OUT PLACES IN THE DECK " 




THE PONY "CIRCUS" JUST BEFORE HIS EXECUTION 



' ' AMERICA ' ' FORCES HER WAY NORTH 3 1 

wider our horizon, the less hypercritical and the more 
just we are apt to be. 

The following day, under the influence of a twenty- 
five-mile-an-hour wind, one of the leads closed into a 
small pressure ridge; the other opened and through 
it we eventually escaped from our pool. 

The early days of August were the most discouraging 
of all. Our latitude was fully one hundred miles 
south of Cape Flora and the great expanse of ice gave 
little promise of opening up. Gloom settled over the 
company and here and there an impatient or thought- 
less one gave vent to his dissatisfaction in regrettable 
terms. The animals showed the effect of their long 
imprisonment, the dogs, craving sympathy, howled 
dolefully and held up their wet cold paws. The ponies 
relieved the tedium of the situation by biting each 
other and doing as much damage as possible to their 
stable. We were obliged to renew the wood-work of 
their stalls and the flooring, that had been eaten through 
in many places. 

The monotony of inaction was varied by visits 
from Polar bears which usually paid the price of their 
curiosity with their lives. They were shot and skinned 
on the ice, their pelts and carcasses being dragged to 
the ship where the meat served as fresh food for men 
and dogs. Thrice in the week after the evening meal, 
Mr. Peters conducted a class in nautical astronomy 
and, assisted by Mr. Porter and Mr. Tafel, made ob- 
servations on the floating ice for magnetic declination. 
Our weather observer, Sergt. Francis Long of the U. S. 
Weather Bureau, was the Arctic veteran of the party. 
He had been a member of the famous Greely Ex- 



32 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

pedition and it was his fortunate shooting of a bear 
which saved the remnant of that company from 
starvation. Sergt. Long mounted his instrument shel- 
ter — the " chicken coop " as it was jocularly termed 
by the members of the party — on the deck over the 
America's upper cabin, and his anemometer on the 
bridge, and began his weather observations. He was 
generally known among the explorers as "Obs," from 
the signature he attached to his memorandum slips. 
All sorts of jokes were cracked at his expense, but 
he kept serenely and good-naturedly at his work, set- 
ting many a younger man an example of diligence and 
faithfulness in the performance of duty. 

Gloom and disappointment gave way to joy on the 
evening of August the fifth when a flood of sunshine 
took the place of dull gray clouds and we discovered 
a great open hole of water through which we steamed 
with a fair sky and friendly winds until the following 
evening, when, once again, the ice appeared and with 
it the depressing fog which threw its chill, wet blanket 
over everything and caused a rapid drop in the spirits 
of my companions. I climbed up to the crow's nest 
on the morning of August the seventh, and while there, 
through a clearing in the fog, caught a glimpse of land 
not far off looking very much like Cape Flora. I called 
out the cheering news, but the ice was fast and under 
pressure so we could do nothing but wait. It was 
very tantalising to drift around in sight of land without 
the power of approaching it. On the morning of the 
eighth our Veterinarian, Dr. Newcomb, reported to 
me that "Circus," one of the ponies that had been 
sick, was infected with glanders and I was obliged to 




HAULING THE CARCASS OF A TOLAR BEAR ABOARD THE SHIP 




'THE REMAINDER OF OUR PACK WERE LODGED ON THE FORECASTLE HEAD" 




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"AMERICA" FORCES HER WAY NORTH 33 

order his destruction, for the disease is communicable 
and deadly to man and beast. The poor little animal 
was shot and thrown overboard with all his belongings 
— halter, blanket, chain, and feed-bag. 

We finally escaped from the pack at a point where 
two enormous ice fields had crashed together. These 
had parted a little, leaving a long narrow channel 
choked with heavy cakes. We dislodged and shat- 
tered the cakes with charges of guncotton, the crew 
pushing the fragments out of the way with long poles. 
Then we forced our way through, steaming between 
two enormous blocks of ice, and escaping just in time, as 
the fields crashed together with tremendous force 
behind us. 

On the afternoon of August 12 th we arrived at Cape 
Flora, the historic place where Jackson spent three 
years with his party and where his dramatic meeting 
with Dr. Nansen took place ; where Leigh Smith lived 
with his crew when his vessel was crushed by the ice, 
and where the Duke of the Abruzzi cached a great 
store of provisions against a time of need. But our 
destination was further north, and we left Cape Flora 
with its relics of former expeditions in an attempt to 
make a higher northern base for winter quarters. 
We passed Cape Barentz, the southeast extremity 
of Northbrook Island, steaming so close that we could 
hear the chatter of thousands upon thousands of gulls, 
guillemots, little Auks, and Loons, which make 
their summer home in the crevices of the great basaltic 
rock that guards the entrance to DeBruyne Sound. 

The Sound was free of ice, but the British Channel, 
through which the Duke of the Abruzzi's ship, the Po- 



34 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

laris, had steamed so easily, was now one unbroken 
line of solid ice from shore to shore. "We steamed east 
toward Cape Dillon to ascertain if there was an oppor- 
tunity of going north through the interchannel route 
by way of Camp Ziegler, where Baldwin wintered in 
1 901-1902, or to the east of the Archipelago. 

We could not make Cape Dillon in spite of effort. 
From the crow's nest, there was naught to be seen but 
ice — north, east, and south, showing that we were 
simply in a water hole off Northbrook and Hooker 
islands. We then turned west over the course we had 
come only to find farther advance in that direction 
blocked by heavy ice off Cape Grant. I then decided 
to return to the British Channel and fight our way 
north by that route if it took the rest of the season. 



CHAPTER V 

THE FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 

>T*HE heavy ice in the British Channel gave me 
-*- reason to believe that we would be late in reach- 
ing our base and I found it necessary to order the men 
to begin to fit harness for the ponies and dogs, to put 
together the sledges, and to start sewing fur garments. 
Our passage up the British Channel occupied many 
days, days of anxiety for the leader. The ponies and 
dogs had been on the ship for almost two months and 
the long wait in cramped quarters was telling on them. 
Veterinarian Newcomb and Sergt. Moulton, who had 
the welfare of the ponies in mind, gave the tough 
creatures exercise by moving them from stall to stall, 
changing their places daily. A fortunate drift of the 
ice northward carried us through the channel past 
Cape Murray, and then we slowly steamed and worked 
our way north being obliged at times to explode heavy 
mines of guncotton to assist our advance. 

On the night of August 29th, we were tied up to the 
ice in a bay near a little uncharted island north of 
Cape Hugh Mill on Jackson Island. My diary for the 
30th reads: 

" Had been up all night and climbed the hill on the 
island near us several times in anxious watch of the 
belt of ice that separated us from the navigable water 
north. I turned in about one a.m. and asked Mr. 

35 



36 F-IGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Peters and Mr. Porter to watch the ice as they were 
taking a set of angles from the top of the hill. Tired 
out from many sleepless nights I fell immediately to 
sleep but was awakened in half an hour by Mr. Porter 
who informed me that the ice had opened. First 
Officer Haven was just climbing over the side of the 
ship for the purpose of going to the top of the hill and 
we three went together to have our eyes gladdened 
by the sight of an open lane through the ice. On 
return, I climbed the hill with Captain Coffin who gave 
one look then hurried back to the ship as fast as he 
could go and together we climbed to the crow's nest. 
On leaving the bay in which we had found refuge we 
steamed north toward Charles Alexander Island, the 
beautiful clear, atmosphere and glorious sunshine 
revealing the fact that Leigh Smith Island did not 
exist, but that what was supposed to be that island 
was really the northeast end of Jackson Island, and 
that instead of the channel marked as De Long Fjord, 
there was really a deep bay. At Cape Helland we could 
go no farther, a wide strip of ice preventing farther 
progress north. We tied up to the ice to await further 
developments. Second officer Nichols, Surgeon Shork- 
ley, Seaman Burns, and I took the dingy and sounded 
in the bay north of Cape Helland, hoping to find a 
lane of separation between the ground ice and the 
floe, but to no avail. We then climbed the glacier 
and, from about 800 feet elevation, beheld the welcome 
sight of open sea as far as Crown Prince Rudolph 
Island. Returned to the ship convinced that when 
we did escape it would not be through the bay but 
farther out in the channel. Felt very tired on return 
to ship for want of sleep. About ten o'clock in the 
morning, I turned in and slept soundly until 4.30. 
After supper, I climbed to the crow's nest and noticed .. 
that the ice had opened a little. Reported it to Capt. 
Coffin, and in a few minutes we were under way. The 



FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 37 

bugle then sounded the time of Sunday service and 
while we were engaged in a devotional meeting, the 
shaking and pounding of the ship denoted our en- 
trance into the ice. At the close of the service, we 
went on deck to find the America slowly forcing her 
way through heavy ice. Before long we had passed 
our last barrier and were steaming in the open sea. 
Captain Coffin reported that when he started the 
chances were slim but as the ship advanced, the ice 
seemed to slacken and open. What heavy masses 
of ice they were! Great, solid, green, shimmering, 
tons upon tons, extending from twenty to thirty feet 
under water! We steamed past Charles Alexander 
Island and toward midnight passed Cape Auk, the 
southwestern end of Rudolph Island, where we could 
see the cache left by the Baldwin-Ziegler Party in 
1902. Teplitz Bay was passed in the sunlight, the 
skeleton-like remains of the framework of the tent 
where in the past had lived the brave Abruzzi and 
his companions standing out in plain view. Open 
water extending farther north, we steamed on toward 
the midnight sun. On passing Teplitz Bay, Captain 
Coffin told me the good news that as far as he could 
see Teplitz Bay would be safe as winter quarters 
for the ship." 

Early in the morning of August 31st, we made 
our highest north, (the open Victoria Sea allowing us 
to pass beyond the 82nd degree of latitude. We 
returned to Teplitz Bay by six o'clock in the morning 
of a beautiful sunlit day, a female bear and her cub 
paying us a visit as we made fast alongside the heavy 
bay ice. Several of the men opened fire from the deck 
of the America, but I was glad to see the mother and 
her cub escape unhurt. 



38 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

The tent where the Duke of the Abruzzi, Captain 
Cagni, and their companions had wintered in 1899 and 
1900, and from which they started on their record 
breaking trip, had been destroyed by the storms and 
all that remained were the heavy spars of the frame- 
work sunk deep in the snow and the tops of the interior 
tents. 

A large cache of food stores was found in good 
condition piled on a high rocky point where the winds 
would keep it free of drifting snow, and, down near 
the tide crack, a great heap of coal was imbedded in 
the ice. Between the coal pile and the cache on the 
rocks, numerous cases filled with food stores protruded 
through the snow, a veritable bonanza to the Arctic 
explorer. Not far from the coal pile was a great case 
containing a ruined balloon and near it a large mili- 
tary gas generator, and cases of sulphuric acid and 
barrels of iron filings were scattered around. Best 
of all was the discovery of two large steel tanks sunk 
to their tops in the snow containing a quantity of 
petroleum. Everything denoted a hurried departure. 
With all this great store of food we found heaps of 
glass bottles and many casks, but, though diligent 
search was made, we never found a bottle containing 
anything stronger than olive oil or vinegar or a cask 
with anything more exhilarating than molasses. Out 
on the bay ice we found the half buried stump of a 
tree on which the Duke and his companions had prob- 
ably practised target shooting, and its unchanged 
position was an evidence to us that the ice of Teplitz 
Bay had not moved since 1900. 

Our voyage was now over, and I gave instructions 





' OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE ON THE FLOATING ICE FOR LONGITUDE AND FOR 
MAGNETIC DECLINATION" 



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FIGHT UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 39 

to disembark the animals, unload the cargo, and pre- 
pare the ship for winter quarters. 



Ziegler Polar Expedition 

s. y. america 

Anthony Fiala, Commanding Officer 

Date Sept. 6, 1903. 
general orders no. 15 

Teplitz Bay 

1. Teplitz Bay is to be our winter headquarters, and in honour of the 
courageous men of Italy and their famous leader who occupied this site 
before us, we shall name our winter quarters camp ' ' Abruzzi. ' ' 

2. We have reached this northern point after many difficulties and 
trials in a particularly bad season of much ice — and great credit is due to 
Captain Coffin and Officers and crew of the America for the record she now 
holds. 

3. Our field work is practically in its very beginning and from the 
lateness of the season we shall be obliged to toil long and suffer some be- 
fore we can be comfortably arranged in Winter Quarters. 

4. The unfortunate stampeding of the ponies on landing caused us 
considerable labour and worry. But now we have our forces together 
and our united efforts will soon effect permanent results, and hope of 
victory by earning it should lead us on, with the glorious example of 
the men who occupied the ground of camp "Abruzzi" before us, as an 
incentive. 

Signed, Anthony Fiala, 

Commanding Ziegler Polar Expedition. 



Sept. 6, 1903. 
general orders no. 16 
Camp "Abruzzi" 

1. Members of Field Department are to report daily after breakfast 
to Mr. Peters my executive officer for orders. 

2. Heads of Departments are expected to carefully attend to stores 
in their charge to prevent loss by drifting snow or other causes. 

3 . It is necessary to impress on the minds of all members of the ex- 



4 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

pedition party, that all tools and small articles should be kept under 
cover before leaving camp at night, and even in working hours no article 
of use should be left on the snow to be covered by the drift and lost. 

4. We are in a situation where habits of carefulness in all respects may 
mean the difference between success and failure. 

5. Obedience to orders and cheerful compliance to required duty with 
a hopeful happy uncritical spirit will leave a record for each man to be 
proud of. 

Anthony Fiala. 




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CHAPTER VI 

CAMP ABRUZZI 

A GANGWAY was now constructed from ship to 
*** ice and the sea-weary animals, wild for liberty, 
were disembarked. The poor beasts had been prisoners 
for two months, some of them longer. The ponies 
celebrated their new found freedom by rolling in the 
snow and kicking each other and the open air in pure 
delight, while the dogs, unchained and allowed to run 
free, with tails up and grinning jaws, found relief from 
the long strain in mischief and enjoyable fights. Our 
camp was established on a level tract of protruding 
rocks, the outcropping of a small terminal moraine, 
on the edge of which, in the snow, a picket line was 
stretched for the ponies. While the ponies were 
being lead across the rough bay ice to the shore, a num- 
ber of them, in a wild desire for freedom, broke loose 
and stampeded, jumping hummocks and rocks like 
kangaroos and finally disappearing out of sight across 
the high glacier. Search parties were sent after them 
and all were brought back except five. Of this num- 
ber four were found lodged in crevasses so badly in- 
jured that they had to be shot, but of the remaining 
one no trace was ever discovered. Sergt. Moulton, 
Assistant Scientist Tafel, and Dr. Vaughn distinguished 
themselves in the search. The anxiety caused by 
the stampede of the ponies was allayed, but we were 

41 



42 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

assailed by a new trouble — the rising of the wind which 
broke off the ice around the ship. Every one had to 
work day and night to move the cargo to land. Quite 
an amount of equipment and stores, lumber, sledges, 
boats, etc., had been placed on the ice near the ship, 
and quick work was necessary to save them from 
being lost on the fast disappearing ice. The ponies 
did valiant service in dragging loads varying from 800 
to 1,200 pounds over the hummocks and up the long 
hill to the camp. One little fellow, a survivor of the 
Baldwin-Ziegler expedition and not so strong as the 
others, died from exhaustion due to overwork. 

After constant exertion we succeeded in getting all 
the new lumber, stores, and equipment ashore, but 
we lost the ship's dingy, some old lumber from the 
stable, and eleven dogs that floated away on broken 
ice in the gale. Thereafter I ordered the sledges 
loaded directly from the ship and nothing was allowed 
to be placed on the ice edge. 

The violence of the wind and the breaking of the 
heavy bay ice indicated to Captain Coffin the pos- 
sibility that Teplitz Bay would be an unsafe harbour 
for the ship. He told me on September 3d that 
he would be obliged to take the America away and 
look for other winter quarters, and that he would not 
be responsible for her safety if she was allowed to re- 
main in Teplitz Bay. To send the America away with 
her crew, I would have been obliged to equip the 
entire ship's company with sleeping bags, dogs, and 
sledges — for there was the possibility of the ship's 
loss no matter where she might be taken in the Archi- 
pelago. Then there were the added disadvantages 







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CAMP ABRUZZI 43 

of a divided party, the loss to the expedition of the 
services of the crew, and also the sacrifice of such 
facilities as were afforded by the work-shop aboard the 
America. There was only one other thing to do, and 
that was to add the shore party to the crew, take every- 
thing — ponies, dogs, large tents, lumber, food, equip- 
ment, and stores, and look for other winter quarters. 

But the season was far advanced, and by going 
farther south we would have lost the decided advan- 
tage of a high base for the sledge party. After con- 
sidering both sides of the question I explained to the 
members of the Field Department the nature of the 
risk we assumed by remaining in Teplitz Bay, and then 
gave orders to Captain Coffin to winter the ship in 
that neighbourhood. 

A large tent twenty feet wide and eighty-eight feet 
long was erected, and, in it the ponies and dogs were 
stabled. In another large tent room was made for 
storage of food and forage for the animals. A house 
was built of lumber brought from Norway on the rocky 
ridge to the west of the stock tent; our company 
labouring late in the gathering twilight and numerous 
storms to complete this winter shelter. 

On September 10th the greater part of the large 
cache of pemmican which had been stored by the Bald- 
win-Ziegler Expedition at Cape Auk four miles away 
was brought north by steamer to our present camp 
site.* The cache consisted of about 40,000 pounds of 
pemmican besides a small quantity of bacon, lard, and 

*The moving of the Cape Auk cache to Camp Ziegler proved to be its 
salvation. During the summer of 1904 an avalanche of water and rocks 
descended from the high face of Oape Auk and washed what remained of 
the cache into the sea, burying the site under a mass of rocks. 



44 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

sausages. Having been one of the party detailed to 
make this cache in 1902, I recalled vividly the two 
months of hard sledging necessary to its accomplish- 
ment, and it was with a feeling of much satisfaction 
that I viewed the cargo of familiar tins on the deck of 
the America and realised that our labour had not been 
in vain. This new cargo was added to our supplies 
at Teplitz Bay, and then preparations were made to 
make the America snug for the winter. I had given 
Captain Coffin a little over half our entire store of pro- 
visions for use aboard ship as he had the larger party. 
The other half, together with the entire store of sledge 
provisions, had been moved by the united efforts of 
expedition members and crew to the vicinity of the 
camp ; this work necessitating hard hauling in all kinds 
of weather. The sledges we had put together while 
coming up the channel stood the heavy loads and 
hummocky ice very well, and the ponies proved in- 
valuable in sledging the stores over the mile of rough 
ice that intervened between ship and shore. In fact 
the ponies were less troublesome and more powerful 
than the dogs, the industrious little equines dragging 
loads that astonished us all. 

On a ridge of rocks overlooking the bay, not far 
from our camp and near the cache of food left by the 
Abruzzi party, our busy scientists erected an astro- 
nomical observatory, inside of which the large vertical 
circle loaned by the Christiana Observatory was set 
up. Near the shore line, about two hundred yards 
below the stable tent, Mr. Peters and his assistants 
built the little hut that was to serve as a magnetic 
observatory. On September 24th the house intended 




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CAMP ABRUZZI 45 

for the home of the shore party was completed and the 
fifteen members of the Field Department and the 
ship's steward, who had volunteered for shore duty, 
moved their belongings into it. The interior of the 
house had been divided into one large living room and 
a number of small rooms just large enough for two 
or four bunks. A little kitchen was partitioned off 
for the steward. In the living room a long table was 
erected over which was hung an arc light connected 
by wire with the ship more than six thousand feet 
away, the America's dynamo supplying the current 
for lights aship and ashore. 

Toward the end of September the days grew stormy 
and dark, the sun's visits became daily shorter until 
on October 1 5th our luminary dipped below the horizon 
in a blaze of scarlet fire, not to rise again until March 
of the following year, and a thick gloom settled over 
the ice of land and sea. By that time the camp had 
assumed quite a business-like aspect, with a regular 
routine of duties for all the members. The ponies 
were stored in the stable tent, half the space of which 
was shared by the dogs. The dogs were allowed 
to come and go at will, none being chained except 
those that were found to be incorrigible fighters. But 
woe to the canines which strayed on the pony side of 
the tent within reach of the heels ! 

A well tramped trail led over the ice of the bay 
between house and ship, and in the snow along the 
trail was imbedded the wire that conveyed the electric 
current. On this same wire Engineer Hartt and 
Electrician Vedoe had cut in three incandescent lights, 
mounting them on bamboo poles stuck in the snow 



46 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

about a thousand feet apart. Another electric light 
burned at the gangway of the ship. On windy days, 
when vision was obscured by flying drifts of snow, and 
at night these lights served as guides between ship and 
shore. The America's officers had been busy in the 
meantime, and the after part of the ship had been 
housed in with canvas and an extra door and par- 
tition placed before the entrance to the forecastle. 
The ship's store of provisions and her small boats were 
cached on the ice within easy reach. An electrically 
lighted workshop, with a stove to keep it warm, was 
arranged between decks. It was clean and comfort- 
able and in it the work of putting sledges together 
and lashing the joints with raw-hide was carried on. 
Wishing to test the dogs and equipment before the 
rapidly approaching season of darkness rendered the 
sledge journey impracticable, I left camp on October 
15th, the last day of the sun's appearance above our 
horizon, accompanied by Dr. Vaughn and Pierre 
LeRoyer and two teams of dogs and sledges. We 
climbed the glacier north of the camp and then directed 
our way toward Cape Fligely. Old Pierre went ahead 
on snowshoes, and Dr. Vaughn and I followed, each 
with a team and a loaded sledge. We returned to camp 
on the morning of October 21st, having been delayed 
on our return from Cape Fligely by a bad storm in 
which we lost our bearings. After the storm, the 
twilight revealed to us that we were on the summit 
of the glacier. Over a thousand feet below us stretched 
the panorama of Teplitz Bay with the ship frozen in, 
a thin column of smoke rising from her funnel; the 
desolate shore enlivened by the houses and tents of the 




COURSE OF THE S. Y. "AMERICA" FROM VARDO, NORWAY, TO TEPLITZ BAY, RUDOLF 
ISLAND, FRANZ JOSEF ARCHIPELAGO 




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CAMP ABRUZZI 47 

camp. The little black specks of life moving around 
we knew to be our comrades. The descent into camp 
from the snowy slope did not take long. We rough- 
locked the runners of our sledges with ropes but even 
then the speed was so swift that we had to turn a num- 
ber of our dogs loose. We received a noisy welcome 
from the canines at camp, a great number of them 
advancing like skirmishers on our approach. The 
trip was a valuable experience, proving the sledges 
and equipment satisfactory and strengthening my 
reliance on them for future use. 



CHAPTER VII 

ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 

'T^EPLITZ BAY was a place of many storms. On Oc- 
•*• tober 2 2d a gale sprang up from the southeast 
shaking the house all night with its fearful blast, the 
velocity of the wind increasing until it reached a maxi- 
mum of seventy-two miles an hour. At half past 
nine at night the arc-light suddenly went out and we 
knew that our connection with the ship was broken. 
We feared that something was wrong aboard the 
America, but were helpless to assist, for in the storm 
it would have been impossible to find the ship or to 
return to the house again. All. sense of direction is 
lost in an Arctic storm. The flying 'snow and drift 
are like a sandTjTast and blind anyone exposed to 
their fury. During the evening of the 23d, there 
was a lull in the gale and Mr. Peters and I carrying 
lighted lanterns ran over the wind-swept bay ice in 
the darkness toward the place where the America had 
been moored. We saw no guiding light from the ship's 
gangway, and, when we reached the place where the 
ship had been, to our horror, we found but a wild back 
sea. We ran up and down flashing our lanterns, but 
our ship with over half of the expedition company 
had disappeared! Fierce puffs of whistling wind 
warned us of the storm's return and we hurried back 

to camp fearing that our comrades aboard the ship were 

48 



ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 49 

lost, reaching the protection of the house just as the 
wind started up again in increased violence. We 
flashed a number of signal lights and, to our joy, 
at last detected a faint glow through the driving drift 
which indicated an answering signal. However, a 
sudden increase in the wind made further communi- 
cation impossible. For three long days the storm 
raged. On the fourth day our eyes were gladdened 
in the twilight of noon by the sight of our good ship 
steaming in from the north, her hull shining with ice, 
and slowly forcing her way through the thick slush 
back to her old mooring place. On going aboard we 
learned that the America had broken loose during the 
first night of the storm and had been drifting and steam- 
ing ever since without anyone on board having any 
knowledge of her whereabouts. The mooring lines 
became entangled in the blades of the propellor when 
she went adrift and men had to be lowered into the 
propellor well during the gale in order to cut the 
tangled mass from the wheel. It was a long and dif- 
ficult operation. The temperature was low, and the 
men had to be relieved frequently. The heavy port I 
anchor with seventy fathoms of chain first dragged 
bottom, then hung vertically and, as it could not be 
raised with frozen machinery, had to be sacrificed 
to save the ship. It was an awful experience, and I 
heard wild stories of the drift in the darkness and 
wind. The gale kept the water agitated and pre- 
vented its freezing, and thus allowed the America 
to steam back to Teplitz Bay. She had hardly been 
made fast to her old berth before the water's surface 
turned into ice, and in the calm after the storm young 



5o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

ice commenced to form, solidifying the floating fields 
and mushy sea into a cold, still dead-looking waste. 
I had been living in the house on shore as it was 
more convenient for me in the work of preparation 
for the sledge trip. But, after the experience of the 
last storm, with the drifting away of the ship, and 
the uncertain feeling of safety aboard, I felt it my 
duty to take up my abode there, and moved my little 
store of personal belongings to my old cabin on the 
America. After all the stores were cached there was 
little for the ponies to do but draw ice which was to be 
melted for fresh water. For the purpose of giving 
them exercise, on afternoons when the weather per- 
mitted we mounted the tough little beasts and trotted 
and galloped down the hill and over the trail toward 
the ship and back. We had no saddles and several 
of the party caused considerable merriment by using 
their mittens to soften their seats on the ponies' backs. 
Sergt. Moulton of the 2d U. S. Cavalry, who had been 
detailed by the War Department to accompany the 
expedition, acted as Guidon Sergeant of my little troop. 
Some of the men rode quite well having gained their 
firm seats through experience as cavalrymen or artil- 
lerymen. Old Pierre had served in the Canadian North- 
west Mounted Police, Sergt, Long in the 2d U. S. Cav- 
alry through several Indian campaigns, and Commissary 
Truden in the U. S. Artillery. Nearly all the dogs 
in the pack accompanied us on our wild rides, barking 
and running as if mad with excitement. We were 
sorry when the days grew so dark that we could ride 
no more. All we could do then to exercise the ponies 
was to take them out of their stable for an hour each 




1 WE PASSED CAPE BARENTZ, THE SOUTHEAST EXTREMITY OF N0RTHBRO0K ISLAND" 




THE "AMERICA" FIGHTING HER WAY UP THE BRITISH CHANNEL 







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ADRIFT IN THE DARKNESS 51 

day and tie them to a long picket line, allowing them 
to kick and roll in the snow. 

Oct. 29, 1903. 

GENERAL ORDERS NO. 26 

i. The Commanding Officer finds it necessary to make his Headquarters 
aboard the 5. Y. America from this date and takes this opportunity to 
express his appreciation of the loyal and effective work of the members 
of the Field Department since the arrival of the America in Teplitz Bay. 

2. The period of darkness is upon us and we can be thankful that we 
are housed so comfortably with such good facilities for the care of animals 
and opportunities for preparatory work for the Spring campaign. 

3. We individually represent the American Nation in this attempt 
North and the high personal privilege and responsibility of being rep- 
resentative before the world is an incentive to the development of the 
best in us — a spur to continued labour, so that when the time comes for 
heroic indifference to hardship we shall be ready for it by the training of 
the winter's work. 

4. Executive Officer Wm. J. Peters is in charge of Camp Abruzzi, and 
will keep record of events ashore. 

5. Assistant Surgeon Chas. L. Seitz is appointed Acting Quarter- 
master at Camp Abruzzi and Assistant Quartermaster J. Vedoe will 
assist him in the care of equipment and Quartermaster Stores ashore. 

6. The house ashore as to its sanitary condition and cleanliness is in 
charge of Surgeon G. Shorkley and members of the expedition are to 
cheerfully comply with any suggestions that he may make that are for 
health and cleanliness and to give him assistance daily in keeping the 
water barrel filled with clean ice. 

7. The cutting and sledging of ice for melter in tent and water barrel in 
house and the clearing of snow drifts from alley and vestibule will be 
part of the regular work of the Dog and Pony Departments. 

8. Great care should be exercised in the use of material and stores and 
equipment and accounting made for every article used. Every member of 
the expedition should consider it his duty to care for equipment and 
keep everything in place and in order. 

9. As the plan of the Spring work depends for its success on the good 
condition of ponies and dogs at that time, every possible opportunity 
to exercise and train the animals should be used and every member help 
toward that end, giving all needed assistance to those in charge of the 
animals. 

Anthony Fiala. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE "AMERICA" WRECKED BY THE ICE FIELDS 

XJOVEMBER opened clear and cold, the tempera- 
-^ ture gradually falling. The minimum ther- 
mometer registered 47 degrees (Fahrenheit) below 
zero on the morning of the nth. The ship froze in 
and seemed safe, every one was hopeful, and work 
for the coming spring sledge journey went on rapidly. 
There was a very faint twilight at noon with a low glow 
in the southern sky on clear days. Thereafter, it 
grew darker each day until there was little difference 
between noon and midnight. 

On the morning of November 1 2th I was awakened 
about four o'clock by the shaking and trembling of 
the ship. I lay for some minutes listening to the groan- 
ing and moaning of the timbers under pressure of the 
ice, and then "Moses," the Captain's dog, pushed his 
way into my cabin and put his paws on me, looking 
into my face with his great black eyes as if beseeching 
me to rise. I learned later that after coming into my 
room he went below into the Captain's cabin and 
awoke him. I got up and putting on a heavy coat 
went out on deck. It was so dark that I could not see 
very far, but I could distinguish in the distance the 
ghostly form of the ice in a jumble of confusion, and 
could see the pressure ridges approaching the bow and 
stern of the ship and the enormous folds in the ice off 

52 



THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 53 

to starboard. It felt rather cold, though the tem- 
perature had risen to 22 degrees below zero. I re- 
turned to the cabin to dress. While I was putting 
on my clothing, Captain Coffin knocked at my door 
and told me that he had ordered all hands to be ready 
to leave the ship. I agreed with him that the order 
was necessary and went out on deck. The America 
was shaking as if with the ague, while the ice was piling 
up ahead and slowly and fearfully nearing us. En- 
gineer Hartt coupled his engine and was ready to 
steam in half an hour. The sledges and stock of lum- 
ber were dragged out between decks and placed on 
the main hatch and, as the shocks increased and the 
America listed to starboard, I had the stuff lowered 
down on the ice. It was a scene of wild activity with 
a nerve-racking accompaniment of shrieks and groans 
from the protesting and resisting ship. About six 
o'clock the Engineer reported to me that the water 
was above the fire-room plates and that he had started 
to pump the ship. After all the sledges and material 
had been placed on the ice, I returned to my cabin to 
save some furs and records, which I placed in bags 
and gave to two sailors who passed them over the side 
to their shipmates on the ice. Mr. Porter came aboard 
at that time. He had been working in the magnetic 
observatory, and, noticing the light at so early an hour 
walked over to the ship to investigate. I told him 
to tell Mr. Peters that should the arc light in the house 
go out he was to take it as a signal for assistance, and 
come at once to the ship with the members of the 
Field party and ponies and sledges. 

About eight o'clock we received our worst squeeze. 



54 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

The ship was thrown over to starboard and her bow 
raised up on the ice. The signal was sent and, flash- 
ing lanterns through the darkness, the men from camp 
came to our aid. The bags and equipment piled on 
the ice alongside the ship were first moved away to 
a place of safety. Later, the Engineer reported that 
the pump was gaining on the water and later still 
that the bilges were dry. The flood was probably 
caused by the bilge water running astern as the bow 
of the ship was lifted up on the ice. 

With the last severe pressure the ice fields became 
quiet and we had an opportunity to inspect the ship. 
In the darkness, carrying a lighted lantern, accom- 
panied by the ship's officers I crawled over the walls 
of ice blocks, tumbled in massive confusion around 
the America's stern, and looked for the rudder and 
wheel. But we could see nothing but a wilderness of 
ice, tons piled upon tons. The highest pressure ridges 
were about twenty-five yards forward of the ship's 
bow and about the same distance astern. Had the 
America been in either place she would have been 
destroyed. The edge of the heavy bay ice had been 
cracked in many places, and one of the ridges nearly 
reached the cache of ship's provisions. This valuable 
cache, which had been separated from the shore-ice 
by a great crack, was in a precarious position, so, send- 
ing ashore for more ponies and sledges, all hands 
worked at moving it to the shore side of the crack. 
All of the coffee and some of the other stores were 
sledged to the cache on land. 

The ship in her new cradle of ice blocks seemed to 
be safer than before and the reassured crew carried 




Drawn by J. Know Us Hare 



'THE SHIP WAS IN HER DEATH AGONY* 



THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 55 

their blankets back to the warm and cozy quarters 
aboard. Days of storm and varying temperature 
followed the crush of November 12 th and the nights 
were made unpleasant by the grating of the ice in mo- 
tion and the groaning and shaking of the ship under 
pressure. 

Early in the morning of Saturday, December 21st, 
I was awakened by the old grinding and crunching 
of the ice and the trembling of the ship. As I was 
hurriedly dressing, the America began to shake as if 
on the wave of a mighty earthquake; she shrieked 
like a living thing in pain; every timber seemed to be 
under a frightful pressure to the very limit of resistance. 
The First Officer and then the Captain and Chief 
Engineer came to my room where I was busy collecting 
records and valuables, and told me it was best to be 
ready to leave as the ice was bearing down on the 
ship. 

I went on deck in the darkness only to realise that 
the America was in her death agony. The whole sea 
of ice to starboard was in motion, sweeping down in 
great lines and billows or breaking blocks that rose 
and tumbled over each other like an army of giants 
determined to destroy us. Huge boulders of ice came 
over the starboard rail, crushing it like paper, and 
frightful sounds were heard from below as if the ship 
were breaking in half. The Engineer reported that the 
water was coming in fast and that the pump had been 
injured by the crush. However, he succeeded in get- 
ting it to work and soon its uneven thumping, that 
sounded like the painful motion of some wounded 
creature, resounded through the ship. 



56 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

With the thunder of the ice fields in our ears, all 
hands worked sending equipment, clothing, bedding, 
and everything of value down to the fast bay ice. A 
sailor was sent ashore to the men at camp and they 
came over with the little ponies and sledges to help 
move our equipment to a place of safety on land. 

About 7:30 Engineer Hartt came to me and, with 
tears in his eyes, said that the water was entering the 
ash-pits and that he could not keep up steam. Later 
he announced that the water had reached the grate 
bars, that the fires were out, and that he had sent his 
men ashore. The water steadily rose as the ice pres- 
sure ceased. With the failing steam, the electric 
lights slowly faded until they merely glowed red and 
dull. The donkey pump was quiet and a silence 
like death crept over the darkened ship. It was 
the passing of the ship's soul. By the light of a candle 
I was busily engaged placing small articles of value 
in bags and had just filled the last one, and had given 
it to a sailor to take over the side, telling him that he 
need not return, when a shout rose from the men on 
the outside, "The ice is opening!" The Engineer re- 
appeared to tell me that he and I were alone on the 
ship and to say that I had better go if I did not want 
a bath. A view from the ship's deserted deck con- 
vinced me that if the ice fields relaxed their pressure 
but a moment, her water-logged hull would go to the 
bottom and that to remain aboard longer would be 
both unnecessary and foolhardy, and together we 
passed by the Jacob's ladder from the forecastle down 
to the ice. 

But fate postponed the complete destruction of the 




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ALL THAT REMAINED IN 19C3 OF THE WINTER QUARTERS OCCUPIED BY THE DUKE OF 
THE ABRUZZI AND HIS COMPANIONS IN 1899-1900 





THE DUKE'S STEEL GAS GENERATOR 



THE SHELTER USED BY THE ITALIANS FOR THEIR 
WEATHER INSTRUMENTS 



THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 57 

America. Another pressure raised her high in the ice 
crib and in that position she froze, the storms drifting 
her in until she seemed immovable — a black, giant 
skeleton marooned in the icy waste of Teplitz Bay. 
Subsequent inspection revealed that the ship had been 
forced some distance northwest, dragging with her a 
1,400 pound mooring anchor, which had torn its way 
through the ice. The America was terribly wrenched 
and strained. The timbers on the port side were 
crushed from the coal bunkers to a point thirty feet 
forward and about five feet below the lower deck, 
tremendous ice splinters still sticking through in places. 
Most of the upright stanchioning between the main- 
mast and the fore-hatch were displaced, some of it 
falling into the hold. The mainmast sagged to port, 
and the starboard rigging was loose and ragged. The 
ship was virtually a wreck and it brought a lump into 
my throat, as we clambered over the coal heaps in the 
hold or picked our way across the disordered decks, 
to view the devastation wrought in that one awful 
night. A lake of water in the engine room had begun 
to freeze and the desolation of the scene was accentu- 
ated by the incessant moaning of the wind. 

The night of disaster was tinged with some flashes 
of humour, stories of which reached me later. While 
the crew were passing the bags over the side of the ship, 
the cook, who was of an excitable nature, suddenly 
appeared at the rail with a large bag which he heaved 
over with all his strength. It struck the ice below with 
a resounding crash ; causing several of the sailors to ex- 
claim, "Hello, Cook, what was that?" "Oh that's all 
right," he answered; " it's lamp chimneys and flatirons! " 



58 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

But it was hardly all right, for during the winter 
we were obliged to cut the bottoms out of pickle 
bottles and use them in lieu of chimneys that had been 
broken. 

With the disablement of the ship arose the necessity 
of sledging ashore all the coal possible and of dis- 
mantling the interior for the wood work that would 
be invaluable for enlarging our house, and all that 
afternoon, in a wind registering forty-eight miles an 
hour, men and ponies laboured, moving coal and 
stores from the ship to camp. The galley range was 
hoisted out with its 1,500 pounds or more of steel, 
placed on a sledge and hauled to the house on shore, 
where a little kitchen was built. The darkness and 
wind added to the distress of that memorable after- 
noon and evening — and at nightfall, when twenty- 
four homeless men had to be given a place to sleep, 
the cheapest, meanest Bowery lodging house would have 
seemed a palace compared to our little hut. Men 
slept on tables and underneath them, on benches, on 
piles of wet baggage. 

In the few intervals of calm that followed the great 
storm, we made sledge journeys in the darkness over 
the mile of bay ice between the America and camp. 
Over two hundred bags of coal were thus sledged ashore 
as well as all the interior woodwork, sails, light spars, 
machine tools, dynamos, a lathe, and a small engine. 
A machine shop was built by our Commissary and 
Carpenter, under the shelter of which a boiler was con- 
structed by the Engineer and his men, from an old gas 
generating tank left by the Duke of the Abruzzi. 
The boiler and engine were to serve with the dynamos 




SLEDGING THE CARGO ASHORE BY HELP OF THE PONIES OVER THE ROUGH 
ICE OF TEPLITZ BAY 




WE START TO BUILD OUR WINTER QUARTERS 




"A LARGE TENT WAS ERECTED, AND IN IT THE PONIES AND DOGS WERE SHELTERED * 




INTERIOR OF PONY AND DOG TENT 

Photograph was taken in the summer of 1904 during the absence of the ponies on the retreat south. At no 
other time was there light enough in the tent for photography. 



THE "AMERICA" WRECKED 59 

in the production of electric light at camp, a steam 
launch to be improvised from one of the whaleboats 
in the summer by use of this same machinery. The 
store house in which we kept some of our food supplies 
was cleared out, and in it bunks were erected and a 
stove was set up, It was banked in by a snow drift 
and this proved warm and comfortable. It was oc- 
cupied by the crew of the lost ship, and was called " the 
forecastle." The work of enlarging the house to 
accomodate the entire company of thirty-nine men 
began at once but it was far into December before 
we were free from the noise of nailing and hammering. 
Preparations for the advance north were not neglected 
and on Thanksgiving Day, after divine service, I gave 
to the assembled members of the expedition the fol- 
lowing provisional plan for the spring sledge trip; 

An outline of the Provisional Plan for the Spring Sledge Trip North is 
presented herewith to the members of the Expedition. All wishing to 
take part in the march North should apply to the Oommanding Officer 
before the end of November, 1903, and receive their allotment of skins 
for clothing, with the understanding that after preparation — should a 
member be unable to go on the Sledge Trip — his furs are to be turned 
over to 0. O. for use on the trail. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE SLEDGE PARTY 

24 Men 20 Pony Sledges 12 Dog Sledges 

Sledge Party to be divided into three Divisions as follows : 

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 

First Support Second Support Final Advance 

First Support. Five Pony Sledges — One Dog Sledge — Carrying Seven 
Days' Rations for entire column, and Ten Days' Rations for the return of 
Ten Men. Return Transport — One Pony Sledge — Two Dog Sledges — 
Five Dogs to Team — Four Ponies to be used for dog food. 

Second Support. Ten Pony Sledges — Five Dog [Sledges — Carrying 
Rations for entire column for Twenty-seven Days' advance after the return 



6o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

of the First Support, and forty-nine Days' Rations for return of Eight 
Men. Return Transport — One Pony Sledge — Five Dog Sledges — Nine 
Ponies to be used for Dog food when sledge loads are consumed and Nine 
Sledges to be abandoned in the advance by Second Support. 

Final Advance. Six Men — Five Pony Sledges — Six Dog Sledges — 
Rations for Six Men for ninety-two days. — The Five Ponies to be used 
for Dog food when Sledge loads are consumed and Sledges abandoned 
and Dogs to be killed off as Sledge loads become lighter. Transportation 
facilities provided for One hundred and Twenty-five days from Camp. 
Dogs to be killed not figured in calculation as Rations, but will serve as 
an extra food allowance. 

In the choice of men for the different detachments the Commanding 
Officer reserves decision until in the field and all members of Field, 
Deck, Engine, and Steward Departments taking part in the Sledge 
Trip may feel that they have a chance for the highest honours, and that 
the choice will only be made after experience has proved each member 
of the Sledge Party. 

The evident fact that only the few can go on the Final Advance, will 
necessitate the return of many possibly well qualified to continue to 
the end. As the success of the Sledge Trip will depend upon the suc- 
cessful work of the Supports, and on the efficiency, endurance, and loyalty 
of those forming the Supports as well as in the Final Advance — every 
man who takes part in the Sledge work should be prepared to take his 
place in any detachment, heroically accepting anything that may be 
expected of him that may help toward the ultimate attainment of the 
object of the Expedition. 

Equipment should be completed and sledges loaded by February First, 
1904. 

Preliminary training in practice marches of entire column to start with 
the return of light, and sledge party to be under marching orders Feb- 
ruary 8th, 1904, every Man and Team ready to start at one hour's notice 
on the march North. 

Each man will be provided with one sleeping bag, a pair of sleeping 
socks and will be allowed to carry in the sleeping bag one blanket not to 
weigh over seven pounds. 

Each man will be allowed about twenty-five pounds of baggage to 
consist of spare clothing, the clothing in each case to be on the list and 
weight finally decided upon, and exactly the same for each member of 
the party. No extra weights to be allowed. 

Each two men to be provided with a silk pyramid tent that is to contain 
the two sleeping bags and an allowance of hay as bedding, the weight of 
hay to be decided later and to be the same for each tent. 

Anthony Fiala. 




BUILDING A HOUSE AT CAMP ABRUZZ1 




LAYING THE FLOOR 




Rear view, showing warehouse 




<5J" 



" ON SEPT. 24TH, THE HOUSE WAS COMPLETED " 
Front of our new home with view of the storage and stable tent. The two were connected later by a long covered passage. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 

TAECEMBER was a dark month, there being no 
- L ^ difference between day and night. We missed 
the cheerful illumination of the electric arc and under 
the light of numerous little oil lamps we laboured 
making harness and sewing our fur clothing for the 
sledge trip. Because of our limited space I found it 
necessary to divide the workers into a day and a night 
force. In the carpenter shop, improvised from part 
of our storehouse, Quartermaster Rilliet, who had the 
assembling of the sledges in charge, toiled with the 
members of the crew. A light sectional boat was 
constructed and over a thousand rations weighed and 
packed for the trip north. In addition to the hard 
task of providing food for so large a party, Steward 
Spencer baked over six hundred pounds of pork and 
bean biscuit for use on the trail. It proved to be one 
of our most valued foods and was preferred on the 
trail to anything else. 

The Christmas and the New Year holidays passed 
happily. We celebrated them with banquets, to 
which our hard working steward contributed many 
delicacies. A Christmas edition of the Arctic Eagle 
our camp newspaper, was printed, Assistant Com.' 
missary Stewart making up the forms and running 
the press, and Seaman Montrose, who had once been 

61 



62 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

a printer, acting as compositor. Nearly all the mem- 
bers of the party contributed to its columns and much 
amusement at its quips and personals was the re- 
sult.* 

Storms were frequent and drifts fierce, and it be- 
came quite a problem how to preserve the large num- 
ber of sledges intended for the advance north from 
being buried under the snow. I finally had a large 
store house dug in the deep drift near the house and 
covered it with spars of the ship and old topsails, and 
under its grateful shelter the twenty-nine sledges were 
loaded as fast as the rations and stores were weighed 
out. 

I had planned to shelter the party when in the field 
in little two- and three-man tents of pongee silk with 
a floor of khaki or light canvas upon which to place 
a layer of hay; each man to have a separate sleeping 
bag, the hay to act as a non-conducting mattress, 
to prevent the absorbtion of heat from the sleeper by 
the cold surface of the ice or snow, when out on the 
floating Polar pack. The hay was also to serve as food 
for the ponies, while fresh hay was to be had on the 
trail from the bales carried as forage. The hay 
proved very useful as camp bedding and the second 
year, when there were no ponies in the column, I had 
some of the sleeping bags covered with a bag of pongee 



*On Sunday evenings the men were called together for a short devo- 
tional service, and a chapter or two read from the Scriptures out of an 
old Bible that had been the property of the Captain of the yacht Amer- 
ica during her victorious cruise in the International races of 1851. Little 
packages of sweet milk chocolate were distributed every Sunday, and 
after the meeting a number of the men would gather around the long 
table in the living room and play poker for the little disks of chocolate! 




" i *-~ >■'- ~-- ** 



OUR WEATHER INSTRUMENT SHELTER 
The Astronomical Observatory is seen on the brow of the hill in the right centre of the view 




? 




THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY 




THE MAGNETIC OBSERVATORY 







EXERCISING THE PONIES AT CAMP ABRUZZI 







•WE MOUNTED THE TOUGH LITTLE EQUINES' 





THE PONIES PROVED INVALUABLE IN SLEDGING THE STORES FROM 
THE SHIP TO OUR CAMP SITE 

Photographed in the waning light of the sun only a few degrees above the horizon 






THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 63 

silk and senne grass or hay stuffed in between bag and 
cover, thus keeping the hay or grass clean. 

Storms were many and the members of the Scientific 
Staff, in their walks to and from the observatories, 
often had to face winds of high velocity with driving 
snow and low temperature. Observer Long was often 
obliged to crawl on his hands and knees through the 
drifted passage from the hut, and in the whirling 
blast of frigid, wind-driven snow particles find his way 
to the " chicken coop " where he kept his thermometers. 
No matter how bad the storm, every evening he brought 
me the little slip of paper signed "Obs.," containing 
the weather instrument reading for the day. 

In going to the Magnetic Observatory it was gen- 
erally necessary for an observer to carry a shovel and 
dig his way into the hut so as to free the man he re- 
lieved on watch. 

At midnight of December nth Mr. Peters and John 
Vedoe went down to the magnetic hut together in a 
52-mile-an-hour wind to dig out Mr. Tafel who was on 
observation duty. They were forced to walk back- 
ward the entire distance, guided by the electric wire. 
At half-past one I became worried about them and 
was getting ready to go out and show a light to guide 
them back, when they came in covered with snow and 
ice. I helped Mr. Peters out of his frozen garments 
while others assisted Tafel and Vedoe. The snow 
had penetrated through their boots to their stockings 
and through their jackets and sweaters, which were 
worn under heavy wind coats. 

A full moon on the evening of January 2d, without 
a wind, gave me a long wished for opportunity to 



64 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

photograph the wreck of the America, and with camera, 
tripod, and lantern, I made my way over the wind 
furrowed surface of the frozen bay. Winds of high 
velocity had cut the snowy surface into ridges that 
looked as if a giant harrow had been dragged across 
them. The edges of the furrows were turned over 
where the eddies had tunnelled underneath, and they 
snapped under foot in the low temperature of 30 de- 
grees below zero with a sharp tinkle like breaking glass. 
The great pressure ridge which had caused the loss 
of the ship was drifted over with a concealing mask 
of snow and the winds had eddied around the America's 
massive hulk leaving a deep hole — down to the origi- 
nal level — on the port side toward the direction of the 
prevailing winds. After setting up the camera and 
opening the lens I went back to camp, returning to the 
ship again in about an hour and a half to end the ex- 
posure. On my way over I witnessed one of the most 
beautiful auroras of the year. It started in a bank of 
clouds on the southern horizon with a faint golden 
glow. Then the cirrus clouds that were floating in the 
sky seemed to become electrified and stretched in long 
parallel rays across the zenith from the cloud bank 
in the south to the north where the brilliant star 
Arcturus was shining. A corona of swift moving lacy 
folds, highly coloured in pinks and greens, actively 
scintillated directly overhead, and from it shot a long 
snake-like ribbon of auroral fire terminating in a hook 
in the clear western sky. The stars gleamed bright 
through the luminous veil, but the moon, at full, was 
shining at the time and with its own light obscured 
some of the glory of the radiant northern fire. Later 



THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 65 

the clouds moved slowly toward the zenith, spreading 
out and crossing the moon, the aurora changing in 
form and playing across the grating of light filaments 
at right angles, forming curves within curves from the 
corona to the west, and then moving in rapid darts 
toward the east, a subsidiary smaller band forming 
parallel further north. The display was over at nine 
p. m., on my return to the hut, so I did not get an oppor- 
tunity of recording it permanently by means of 
sketches. 

I made many attempts to photograph the aurora 
on the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition, but always failed. 
By long exposure, I could get some small effect of the 
light with that of the stars on the sensitive plate, 
valueless however as a matter of record, for the swift 
moving aurora, to be correctly depicted, would have 
to be photographed instantaneously, and, for that 
purpose, it does not give enough light. 

In connection with Mr. Peters 's work in the Mag- 
netic Observatory I made a number of sketches of the 
auroras using for that purpose a board upon which' 
was a compass for orienting, and a number of black 
sheets of paper upon the surface of which I had drawn 
a circle representing the horizon. The sheets were 
so placed together, and pinned at the corners, that 
they could be torn off as the sketches were completed. 
A pin at the centre represented the zenith point. Op- 
portunities were few for its use on account of the pre- 
valent bad weather, and sketching in the open air when 
the temperature was from 30 to 40 degrees below zero 
was anything but pleasant. However, some interest- 
ing sketches were secured. 



66 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

January was a wild month, noted for its variable 
and high temperature. The maximum thermometer 
registered 31 degrees above zero on the 21st, during 
a storm in which the wind reached a hurricane veloc- 
ity. This storm continued until the morning of the 
23 d, when we found that the bay ice had been broken 
up. The great frozen mass, the accumulation of years 
which we thought nothing could move had been crushed 
and blown away, and we could see where monster 
waves had washed on the shore almost to the rocks 
of the ridge on which our house was built. We 
thought at first of a tidal wave, but in the dim glow of 
noon-time — for the sun was on its return to us — we 
discovered that the glacier had calved for miles along 
its face. In the bay near us we could see the ghostly 
forms of the icebergs that had been born during the 
wild hurricane. At our feet lapped the inky waters 
of the bay in which floated a number of small ice fields. 
We could not see far enough, on account of the dark- 
ness, to know whether the ship was in the bay or not. 
Several of the party explored the questionable harbour 
by jumping from cake to cake, but no sign of the ship 
or the provision cache could be found, not even a case, 
barrel, or spar. The America had disappeared in the 
darkness of the Arctic night, and shrouded her doom 
in mystery! Whether she went to the bottom under 
the blast of that awful gale or whether she was blown 
toward the northern axis of the earth, where now she 
floats in unheralded victory, no man knows. 

By January 23d our little lighting plant was com- 
plete and our Engineer ready to illuminate the camp 
with electricity, but with the disappearance of the 






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"A THICK GLOOM SETTLED OVER THE ICE OF LAND AND SEA ' 




"WE CLIMBED THE GLACIER NORTH OF THE CAMP' 



THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 67 

America vanished the large store of coal in her hold, 
and we could not afford to keep up steam by using the 
coal pile ashore. So we economically continued our 
work under the light of oil lamps and candles. 

January was a busy month. Rations for men, 
ponies, and dogs were weighed and packed and pre- 
parations made for an early start; but the month of 
February, with its dimly lighted and very short days, 
was a period of storms and our departure was delayed. 
The returning light revealed a vast body of open sea 
to the west and northwest of the island, which made 
it imperative for me to plan to leave from the north- 
east, at Cape Fligely. 

Ziegler Polar Expedition 

camp "abruzzi" 

g. o. no. 32. Thursday, Jan. 14, 1904. 

1. The consolidation of the entire Expedition party ashore since the 
twenty-first of November, 1903, consequent upon the loss of ship, re- 
sulted in considerable extra labour for the members of the Expedition, 
in the necessary hauling, sledging, excavating, and constructing to provide 
larger quarters. 

2. Since the America experienced the crush in the ice, a brief summary 
of work accomplished is as follows : — 

3. Cache of ship's provisions moved from line of ice pressure to place of 
safety. 

4. Ship dismantled for lumber, and storehouse at camp converted into 
sleeping quarters for crew, kitchen built, galley stove brought from ship 
and set up, and house enlarged. 

5. New storehouse for Quartermaster stores excavated and constructed. 

6. New storehouse for Commissary stores excavated and constructed. 

7. Sledges brought ashore and completed in workshop improvised from 
part of storehouse. 

8. Two hundred and twenty-two bags of coal filled aboard ship and 
sledged to camp, and ship's boats sledged ashore. 

9. Magnetometer completed. 

10. New magnetic hut erected. 

11. Silk tents completed for sledge trip. 



68 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

12. Machine shop constructed, and dynamo engine and generators with 
machine stores brought ashore. Lathe set up and machine work started. 

13. Seal boots completed for sledge party. 

14. Pony blankets completed for sledge party. 

15. Forage for ponies weighed out and packed ready for trail. 

16. Storehouse for sledges 65 x 15 excavated and constructed from 
sails and spars. 

17. Dogs arranged in teams and teams assigned. 

18. First section of sectional boat framed. 

19. Over 600 lbs. of pork and bean biscuit baked for sledge trip. 

20. Fur clothing nearing completion. 

31. Weighing and packing of dog rations now in progress. 

22. We have not forgotten to celebrate the festivals of Christmas and 
New Year with enjoyable banquets and perpetuated the memory of the 
time by the publication of a six page newspaper. 

23. The Commanding Officer takes this opportunity to compliment 
officers and men of all departments, on the splendid results achieved thus 
far under the difficult conditions of darkness and cold, in an Arctic night 
of unprecedented record for high and continued wind storms. 

24. The contemplated training of dogs and ponies during the past 
period of moonlight has been unavoidably delayed. Those who have 
their dogs can be prepared for the next opportunity by daily practice 
with their teams, two men taking a team at a time. This is very im- 
portant. The dogs require considerable training and members must 
become acquainted with them. 

25. Members of expedition who are to remain at camp should render 
assistance at every opportunity to their comrades intending to go north, 
remembering that the success of the expedition depends upon the triumph 
of the sledge trip. 

26. The storehouse is now in use as a place to pack sledge rations. 
Loose dogs must be kept out. Doors are to be kept closed. 

27. Clothing bags issued for trail use should be filled with the following 
articles of clothing : — combination suit, Jaegersuit, sweater, guernsey, knit- 
ted drawers, three pairs Jaeger socks, two pairs long stockings, three pairs 
woolen mittens, one pair seal mittens, silk overalls, one pair seal boots, 
one pair moccasins, one pair fur boots (to be issued later), Jaeger camel's 
hair cap covered with silk. Icelander can replace sweater if desired. 

28. Instructions in detail for sledge party will be issued later. 

29. Camp routine until further orders: — 

Reveille 7-3° A.M. Luncheon 1 P.M. 

First call for breakfast 7.50 First call for dinner 5.50 

Breakfast 8 Dinner 6 

First call for luncheon 12 . 50 P. M. Call to quarters 10 

Taps 10.30 P. M. 




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THE "AMERICA" IN WINTER QUARTERS IN TEPLITZ BAY EARLY IN NOVEMBER, 19C3 

Photographed by moonlight 




THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN BY MOONLIGHT AFTER THE " AMERICA'S " DISAPPEARANCE 
IN JANUARY, 1904. IT IS THE SAME SPOT AS PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE UPPER PICTURE 



THE NIGHT OF PREPARATION 69 

Coffee served at n A. M. and at 3 P. M. Chocolate at 10 P. M. Coffee 
for night force at 6 A. M. 

30. Members of the Expedition not on night duty are expected to be 
in their quarters after taps. 

31. As work is proceeding day and night, a consideration for those who 
are obliged to sleep while others are awake, will tend to prevent unnecessary 
noise. 

32. The sun is on its way toward us and soon darkness will give place 
to light. Let us salute the return of the sun with a spirit of enthusiastic 
activity, ready for the task that is before us, rejoicing in the opportunity 
to attempt the discovery of that which has been sought for centuries. 

Anthony Fiala, 
Commanding Expedition. 



CHAPTER X 

PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 

T)Y EARLY February the preparations for the 
■*-* sledge trip were complete, and twenty-five 
sledges, loaded with rations all carefully weighed, were 
ready under the shelter of the great snow storehouse. 
With the return of the twilight the men started to 
train their dog teams and ponies — running a trail from 
the camp over the glacier to Cape Saulen and back. 
The ponies had their advocates and the dogs had 
theirs. Old Pierre contended that since the dogs could 
eat the ponies and the ponies could not eat the dogs, 
the dogs were naturally the key to the situation. I 
planned for a party of twenty-six men, sixteen ponies 
and sledges, and nine dog teams and sledges. The 
column was to be divided into three supporting 
parties and one advance. Each supporting party 
was to carry provisions for the support and advance 
march of the whole column for a certain number of 
days, and food for its own return to Camp Abruzzi. 
The sledges were all numbered and coloured according 
to the detachment in which they belonged, as were 
also the rations. The choice of the men to be made 
in the field, the weaker ones to be placed in the sup- 
ports first to be detached and sent back to land. The 
First Support of four men, one pony sledge, and one 

dog sledge, was to carry two days' rations for the ad- 

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"A BLACK, GIANT SKELETON MAROONED IN THE ICY WASTE OF TEPLITZ BAY " 
Photograph by moonlight, January 2, 1904 — ii hours' exposure 




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PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 71 

vance march of the entire column of men, dogs, and 
ponies, and, five days' rations for their own return to 
the land. 

A Second Support of eight men, four pony sledges, 
and one dog sledge, carried food for the advance of 
the column six days more, and rations for ten days' 
return march of the support to Rudolph Island. Two 
of the ponies of this support were to be used on the 
outward march as food for the dogs. The Third Sup- 
port, consisting of eight men, six pony sledges and 
five dog sledges, was to continue on the march north 
sixteen days longer and provide food for the entire 
column from the time the Second Support left on its 
return march. The six ponies were to be considered 
as dog food on the advance. This supporting de- 
tachment was provided with twenty-six days' rations, 
packed on their five dog sledges, for their return to 
Camp Abruzzi. 

On the departure of the Third Support the final 
party (the "Advance") of six men was to continue 
on the march provided with eighty-two days' rations 
on six dog sledges and five pony sledges. The dogs 
were not considered as food in the calculations, and 
would have (in the latter part of the journey) meant 
so many extra rations. 

With the transportation facilities of the column, 
there was ample food to allow the Advance party 
to stay in the field 135 days — and if about seven 
miles a day could be averaged, the pole could be reached 
and the party brought safely back. It was expected 
that the supporting parties would return at least part 
of the way back to camp over a made trail, but there 



72 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

were the possibilities of delay from storms and bad 
ice, and to insure a sufficient food supply, and as an 
allowance for delay, each detachment was provided 
with several days' extra rations. 

During the winter and spring we found the pre- 
vailing winds to be from the southeast and east. They 
broke up the ice and caused a great hole of water to 
extend off the western and northwestern shores of 
Rudolph Island, sometimes stretching so far north that 
from the top of the glacier, which commanded a view 
of about thirty miles, we could see nothing but open 
sea. When the wind ceased, the water would freeze 
over and sometimes stay smooth for several days. 
Then a pressure would come in from the west, and 
what had been a fairly smooth road — became an im- 
passable mass of ridges of young, thin ice, mixed with 
great cakes that came in from the west, and numerous 
water holes. It was on such smooth ice lanes that 
Captain Cagni made his best marches north, and it 
explains his rapid run from the island, so rapid that, 
before the first detachment was sent back, they had 
reached something like forty miles from land. 

To me the loss of the first detachment seems due 
to their inability to find any of these smooth lanes on 
their return. While they were marching north, the 
pressure must have come in from the west and destroyed 
them all, the men starving to death, struggling over 
impossible ice. The safe return of the second detach- 
ment was helped by the southeast winds which in 
early summer clear out all that broken ice, the 
heavy ice then coming in from the north thus helping 
the second detachment on their homeward march. 




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PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 73 

When they reached the edge of the pack they were 
close in to the island, and could send a man ashore in 
a kayak to communicate with their comrades on land. 

Winds and storms! Only three hours of calm were 
recorded on the self-registering instrument during the 
month of February. On the twelfth we had the first 
let up from wind and Mr. Peters utilised the few hours 
of light that day by going over the glacier to Cape Auk 
where he erected a signal pole to serve as a meridian 
mark for the astronomical observatory at camp. He 
was accompanied by Assistant Engineer Vedoe and 
Assistant Surgeon Seitz, with two dog sledges and 
camping outfit. We communicated with him with 
prearranged signals of red and white lights and the 
marking of the meridian by the firing of a rocket. A 
storm raged all of the 13th and the 14th, the party not 
returning to camp until the afternoon of the 15th. 
Mr. Peters reported a very cold experience, the tem- 
perature falling so low that the cooking oil froze to the 
consistency of cream and became full of clots. The 
temperature at Camp Abruzzi went down to 44 degrees 
below zero and it must have been lower still on the 
glacier at the elevation where, exposed to the violence 
of the storm, the party was encamped. The prevailing 
southeasterly winds kept an open channel of water off 
the western and northwestern coast and I early realised 
that our descent to the sea ice would have to be made 
from Cape Fligely, the northeastern extremity of the 
island, to accomplish which, we would be obliged to 
cross the high wind-swept glacier. 

For the purpose of marking a safe trail, on February 
25th, I sent Dr. Vaughn in charge of an advance 



74 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

party with dogs and sledges to cross the glacier. He 
was provided with signal flags on bamboo poles to 
mark a trail free from crevasses on which the column 
was to follow later. He was also to cache some food 
at Cape Fligely. The party returned two days later, 
Dr. Vaughn reporting that they could not reach their 
destination on account of bad weather. Three flags 
had been placed and the provisions and forage cached 
on the glacier at the third flag, which was about half 
the distance to the Cape. 

On return of this unsuccessful party Mr. Peters 
volunteered to make the journey. On the morning 
of March 2d, accompanied by Steward Spencer with 
his dog team and sledge, he left camp. I was anxious 
to leave soon on the poleward quest and before Mr. 
Peters left I gave him instructions not to remain away 
from camp longer than three days, but to return should 
storms delay his progress. On the morning of the day 
after their start Mr. Peters and Spencer returned, 
having reached a point on the glacier near the third 
flag planted by the previous party. A storm had 
arisen and Peters had returned in obedience to his 
instructions. 

The continuance of the bad weather gave me the 
impression that most of it was local and that if we 
could get away from the influence of the ice-capped 
islands and open bodies of water we would be com- 
paratively free from storms and squalls. 

At noon on March 3d our eyes were gladdened by 
the first appearance of His Majesty the Sun breaking 
through a bank of clouds to the south, bringing new 
life in his shining rays. On the morning of the 5 th of 




BY JANUARY 23D, OUR LITTLE LIGHTING PLANT WAS COMPLETE AND OUR ENGINEER 
WAS READY TO ILLUMINATE THE CAMP WITH ELECTRICITY 




Electrician and Asst. Eng. A. Vedoe Engineer H. P. Hartt 

Asst. Eng. C. Hudgins Fireman Hovlick Seaman Perry 

A STEAM BOILER WAS CONSTRUCTED OUT OF THE STEEL OF THE DUKE'S GAS GENERA- 
TORS BY OUR ENTERPRISING ENGINEER AND HIS ASSISTANTS 



PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 75 

March I had all the loaded sledges dragged out of the 
storehouse and placed in line on the snow, and ordered 
the men to lash on the toploads of tents, sleeping bags, 
clothing bags, and extras. The interior of the hut 
that day presented a busy scene. The men getting 
ready for the sledge trip taking out their sets of dog 
harness, clothing, and ration bags, and packing their 
little silk tents with sleeping bags and hay. Ten 
pounds of hay were allowed each tent for bedding, and 
on this the sleeping bags were placed, the small space 
in the interior of the house not allowing more than one 
tent to be packed and lashed at a time. At last all 
was ready. But that moment, as if called forth by 
the Imp of the Perverse, a wind began to blow with 
great violence and we were obliged to unlash the top- 
loads as a protective measure against bears and dogs 
and place them under the shelter of the storehouse 
roof. The following day, Sunday, was still stormy 
but, dreading a further delay, I resolved to begin the 
march and gave my last instructions to Commissary 
Truden whom I left in charge of Camp Abruzzi to 
await my return from the ice. I also gave instructions 
to Captain Coffin who, after the return of the support- 
ing detachments from the field, was to conduct the 
party south to Cape Flora where the Relief Ship was 
expected in the coming summer. Three bears visited 
us that day, causing great excitement in camp, the 
men with guns in hand falling over each other in their 
anxiety to get out of the house through the long dark 
passage to the exterior. One bear was killed out on 
the bay ice and triumphantly dragged to camp. In 
the evening a bear chased the Steward and Cook up 



7 6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

to the house. They had fired all their ammunition 
away, and on nearing the camp they called lustily for 
help. Assistant Commissary Stewart came to their 
rescue and made bruin retreat under heavy fire. 

I wrote my last letters on the evening of the 6th. 
It was Sunday. After the usual divine service I 
gave instructions to the men in regard to the care of 
themselves and the animals when in the field, and told 
them that I and my party would begin the journey 
north the next day. 

instructions for sledge party north 

camp "abruzzi," Feb. 16, 1904. 

1. Follow the trail, unless ordered to leave it. 

2. You may think some other way an easier one but it is your duty to- 
follow the trail and to train your teams to obey you in that particular. 

3. Be careful and do not allow your team to run up on the sledge in 
front of you. 

4. Do not fall behind; train your team to keep the required distance 
from team ahead. 

5. Do not leave the last man too far behind, particularly in rough ice 
and thick weather. Pass word to front of column when some one is missing. 

6. Keep snow out of interior of tent. Take off overalls when turning 
in and all damp clothing. You will be more comfortable by doing so. 

7. To take care of the feet is of the utmost importance. Wear a pair 
of wool socks that can be changed when dirty and one or two pair of long 
Jaeger stockings over them. Take off the outside stocking and put it 
in the sleeping bag at night to dry and put your feet in sleeping socks. 
Sleeping socks should not be used to walk out in snow with. Feet should 
not be bound tightly; they should have room to move in shoe or boot. 

8. Snow should be brushed from felt boots and the boots put under or 
in sleeping bag at night to dry out ; one on each side of the head would be 
advised. 

9. Hot utensils containing food should not be placed on sleeping bags; 
remember that water and moisture make the sleeping bag anything but 
comfortable. Wet spots tear easily, the hair falling out, and burned 
spots break off. Repair any holes at first opportunity. 

10. When fur boots or moccasins are worn with senne grass, take the 
grass out at night, pulling it apart and spreading it to allow moisture to 
escape and solidify. The frost crystals can be shaken out in the morning.. 




EXCAVATING THE GREAT SNOW STOREHOUSE 




LOADING THE SLEDGES IN THE SHELTER OF THE STOREHOUSE 




\ 



PRELIMINARY SLEDGE WORK 77 

11. There is no provision of spare articles of any description to allow 
for carelessness in the sledge column, so if you lose parts of your equipment 
you will be obliged to go without. 

12. Take care of your team, being particular at camping to consider the 
comfort and well being of your ponies or dogs before turning into your 
sleeping bag. 

13. Any part of harness broken should be repaired at night before 
turning in so that the column will not be delayed by one team's disability. 

14. It is advised in the matter of clothing to wear just as little as possible 
while working, so that perspiration will not be induced ; if too warm take 
off coat and simply travel in shirt and wind coat. A man cannot keep 
warm in damp clothing no matter how much he puts on, and skins are 
easily ruined when they become wet. Be particular and keep your skin 
coat dry to keep you warm at halts. 

15. Should an accident occur and a sledge or pony break through the 
ice keep your place in line unless in position to assist and be sure your own 
team is not in danger. 

16. Reveille will be sounded in the morning from the cook tent and 
breakfast will be served about ten minutes later. On the sounding of the 
assembly tents will be taken down, sledges loaded with camp equipage, and 
teams harnessed ready for the advance. 

17. Each man before leaving Oamp Abruzzi will receive 7 days tent 
rations of bread, butter, pemmican and sugar, and two weeks' rations of 
milk. No issue of tent rations will be made for seven days, so use accord- 
ingly. 

18. Do not shout unauthorized orders to any member of party, but be 
helpful and considerate, ready to assist a comrade when in need. 

19. No riding on sledges to be allowed without permission. 

Anthony Fiala. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 

TN a twenty-mile wind, on the morning of March 
7th, we left Camp Abruzzi. The party com- 
prised twenty-six men, sixteen pony sledges, and 
thirteen dog sledges. We reached the summit of the 
glacier the same afternoon, after a hard pull up the 
steep slope in the face of the drift and wind. Here 
we were obliged to camp since everything ahead was 
obscured by the flying drift. On the order to camp 
the ponies were unharnessed and blanketed and chained 
to the picket line out on the face of the cold wind- 
swept glacier. The dogs were also unharnessed and 
attached to the steel ropes that each man carried — 
ropes just long enough for the nine dogs of a single 
team. Tents were raised after the animals were at- 
tended to. 

The camp was an interesting place, though the howl- 
ing wind and flying drift brought discomfort in their 
train. There were eleven silk pyramid tents flapping 
in the wind, each one numbered in flaming red on all 
sides of its peak ; the cook tent with its bold insignia, 
"Cook Tent No. 1," breathing the vapour of the 
evening's pemmican stew; the sixteen ponies huddled 
together in a line overlooking the impenetrable mist- 
enshrouded distance of glacier and sea. Meanwhile 
the dogs barked and fought as the men went about 

78 




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THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 79 

their duties in their white silk wind-coats, looking like 
so many Bedouins or Crusaders. 

The cook tent was a great convenience. It was 
attached permanently to the sledge with cookers, 
food, and oil inside. On camping the tent had only 
to be set up and everything necessary was found with- 
in. Cooking in a low temperature is one of the trouble- 
some features of Polar work. Moisture collects on 
everything under cover and forms a coating of thick 
hoar frost, which rapidly increases the weight of tent 
and clothing. Thus, by having a separate place in 
which to prepare food, the tents occupied by the men y 
were kept comparatively free from moisture, and in 
consequence were lighter and warmer. My intention 
had been to have the men take daily turns in the cook 
tent, but I found that economy would result if two 
of the party only undertook the task. Accordingly 
Steward Spencer and myself did the cooking on all 
the sledge trips in which we took part. 

The wind went down during the night and in the 
early morning we broke camp and marched for Cape 
Fligely. 

We reached there the same afternoon in a drifting 
wind, one man disabled by a rupture from over exertion, 
another with a strained back, and three others not in 
condition to go forward. While getting supper two 
of the cookers gave out, and in the fierce gale it was a 
difficult and unpleasant task to provide for twenty- 
six men with a disabled apparatus. The wind in- 
creased in velocity the following day and the flapping 
tents made a sound like many machine guns of heavy 
calibre in close action, and to be heard by a companion 



8o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

in a tent it was necessary to shout. Our last cooking 
machine gave out just as we were preparing breakfast. 
I spent several hours in an attempt to solder the joints 
of the oil-tanks that had opened, but the grease and 
cold for a time precluded success. Ultimately they 
were made air and oil tight by the use of some cement 
I had taken along for the purpose of repairing kayaks, 
and with joy we completed the meal for the hungry 
party of storm-bound men. 

The storm raged all of the ninth and the tenth, 
drifting over the sledges and partially burying the 
small tents. We were held prisoners with a tempera- 
ture outside of 38 degrees below zero. The injured 
men suffered considerably, and their condition caused 
me much anxiety. The only comfortable ones were 
the dogs, they curled themselves into little fur balls, 
and, covering up their noses with their tails, were soon 
blanketed over with the snow, and slept through all 
the raging storm. But the poor ponies, with tails to 
the wind and heads down, shivered in the freezing 
blast. As long as the wind blew it was impossible to 
give them hay to eat and even the nose bags of oats 
were blown away unless closely watched. 

The poor condition of five men, the leaky cookers, 
and the fact that one man had torn his sleeping bag 
and that two others complained that theirs were too 
small, decided me to return to camp, to refit and to 
reduce the number of men for another attempt 
North. 

The wind subsided the morning of March nth, and 
after digging our sledges and tents out of the snow 
drifts, with one man lashed in his sleeping bag on the 



THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 8f 

top of a sledge, we tramped back over the glacier — 
reaching the camp at 4 p. m. the same day. 

On the return to camp and after the cold experience 
on the glacier there was much disappointment expressed, 
some of the men criticising the dogs, the equipment, 
and the ponies, stating that the last named were not 
adapted for Polar work and would fail us when we 
reached rough ice. The enthusiasm which before the 
short journey had blazed so warm, dropped to the cold 
of an Arctic night. 

The discussions were many, the men of the Field 
Department talking as they worked at night sitting 
around the stove in the large living room. Many a 
revelation of character was made during our sojourn 
in the land of ice. To really know a man you must 
live with him away from the distractions and conven- 
iences of civilisation; live with him in a house where 
there are no other houses; have him for a neighbour 
where there are no other neighbours. And then if 
you obey the divine command and love him as yourself, 
and if the love is returned in the same spirit, your com- 
panionship is a happy, helpful one. 

I entered into some of the discussions and will never 
forget a little talk with several of the members. Cour- 
age was the topic. In illustration, I told an incident 
of the Civil War of 1861-65. During the battle of 
Chancellorsville the nth Corps, which had occupied 
the plank road in front of Hazel Grove was in full re- 
treat, and General Jackson's Division was coming 
through the woods in pursuit. If something were 
not done, and at once, the Army of the Potomac was 
doomed. General Pleasonton, Chief of Artillery of 



82 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the Union Army, surveyed the scene of disaster, and 
attempted to place a line of guns on the plank road to 
stay the advance of the victorious host. To do it he 
must have fifteen minutes. General Jackson's Division 
must be stopped. A squadron of cavalry was there 
in the saddle which had not joined in with the rush to 
the rear of the panic-stricken Eleventh Corps. General 
Pleasonton galloped up to Major Keenan, in command 
of the squadron, and ordered him to charge the woods 
with his handful of men, and engage the Confederate 
army just long enough for him to get his guns in posi- 
tion. It was a more perilous charge than that of the 
Light Brigade at Balaclava. But — to their glory — 
they went. They were, of course, routed, and many 
saddles were emptied. — But the charge made Jackson 
halt and form his line to receive cavalry, and that halt 
saved the army of the Potomac. 

I said to my men, "Would you not have done the 
same? Would you not have obeyed the order and 
followed the flag, risking your lives for the ultimate 
good, and for a principle?" One of them answered — 
"The h — 1 we would! Self preservation is the first 
law of nature. As for me I would follow any old rag 
as long as there was something in it for me!" And I 
realised that the spirit of " Graft " had penetrated even 
to the regions of ice and snow. Some of the men 
though were anxious for another attempt to capture 
the Pole and Assistant Scientist Porter made my 
heart glad with his enthusiastic expressions of belief 
in victory on our next march North. The Chief 
Engineer, though he could not accompany me, also 
cheered me with his strong words of hope and belief 




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THE FIRST ATTEMPT NORTH 83 

in success. A number of the men came to me wishing 
to be added to the next sledge force, the members of 
the crew evincing a strong desire to take part and do 
their best. 



\ 



CHAPTER XII 

THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 

HpHERE was much to do before we could start again. 
-*■ The cookers, which through faulty workmanship 
had failed us, were taken apart by our Engineer and his 
assistants and thoroughly overhauled. Important 
joints, which the manufacturer had carelessly neglected, 
were brazed and the tanks were made tight. 

With the necessary preparations and the revising 
of weights and equipment, with the reloading of 
the sledges, and with the delay caused by storms, 
it was not until March 25th that we could leave Camp 
Abruzzi. 

On the morning of that date we left, climbing the 
glacier once again, a party of fourteen men, nine dog 
sledges, and seven pony sledges. The weather was 
cold and beautiful and we ascended the steep slope of 
the glacier with little trouble. Cape Fligely was reached 
the same evening and, after supper, Mr. Peters and I 
descended to the sea ice for the purpose of picking out 
a path for the sledge column down the slope. The sea 
ice itself was in very bad condition, nothing but a 
rubble of ice cakes in one confused mass, piled, ridge 
upon ridge, as far as the eye could see from the highest 
point of the Cape. 

The following morning, after an early breakfast, the 

sledge party descended the glacier and forced a way 

84 



[ THE POOR PONTES, WITH TAILS TO THE WIND AND HEADS DOWN, SHIVERED IN THE 

FREEZING BLAST " 




THE PONIES WERE SURPRISING IN THEIR ABILITY TO CLIMB AND GET OVER ROUGH ICE' 




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THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 85 

north about one and a half miles over very bad ice, 
until progress was barred by a partially frozen lead 
over which the ponies could not travel. The ice 
seemed to be of very recent formation and was in 
slight motion, a mass of jagged, broken pieces on end, 
covered with salt crystals and almost bare of snow. 
It was difficult to discover sufficient snow for a halting 
place where our numerous animals might find the means 
of quenching their thirst. I was obliged to keep from 
six to eight men in the advance with picks and axes 
to clear a path for the party. The dogs were in splendid 
condition and the ponies were surprising in their ability 
to climb and get over rough ice. At no time was it 
necessary to extricate a pony from a hole in the ice. 
There was a man to drive each dog team, and in get- 
ting over the worst places two, three, and, sometimes 
four men were necessary to one sledge. Four men 
took care of the seven pony sledges; the ponies exert- 
ing their strength when most needed. The greatest 
difficulty was caused by the continual capsizing of the 
unattended sledges, the ponies dragging them (in their 
frantic efforts to keep up with the column) until the 
sledges were solidly wedged in ice, requiring the united 
efforts of their drivers and others to extricate them. 

That day's experience convinced me that the ponies 
were valuable auxiliaries to Arctic work, but that the 
sledges would have to be built with five or more runners 
around a central load, with swivel bar in front, the loads 
to be placed inside the sledges from the rear. The 
ponies would then hardly require attendance. They 
did not need urging like the dogs; on the contrary, 
they exerted their utmost to keep up with the column. 



86 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

As the sun was sinking and the temperature falling 
I decided to halt at the lead until the semi-frozen mass 
should become solid. Should it not be possible to 
advance the ponies I resolved to continue the march 
with the dogs, the sledge loads having been arranged 
to provide for that contingency. On inspection of the 
column during the halt I found that the sledges were 
in a deplorable condition. Bows were smashed, 
top-rails broken, and the front curves of the runners 
splintered and divided in two. Practically, all the 
injuries were in the forward ends of the sledges for, 
unfortunately, they had been loaded too heavily in the 
forward ends. 

With the sad realisation that there was not even the 
possibility of breaking the record under the conditions, 
and wishing to save the equipment, for another assault 
I gave orders to return. It was too late to think of 
making another march north that year. I could only 
plan for another winter in the Arctic and another 
sledge journey toward the Pole in the spring of 1905. 
I would have abundant opportunity to strengthen the 
dog sledges and to build new pony sledges after a 
model described before. 

To my men the set-back should prove a valuable 
experience — a help in future work. It was the test 
through which all who had the real fibre of the ex- 
plorer would pass triumphant to belief in and effort 
toward ultimate success. I felt that the true American 
spirit would answer the check with the words of John 
Paul Jones — " / have not begun to fight yet! " 

Previous to beginning the second march north I 
had arranged for Mr. Porter to conduct one of the sup- 



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THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 87 

porting parties back to camp and on his return to 
Camp Abruzzi to head a small party south on an ex- 
ploring and mapping expedition in the direction of Cape 
Flora. Before our return to Cape Fligely, from which 
point we had but lately made our second attempt 
north, he had asked leave to attempt a passage toward 
White Land in company with Assistant Engineer 
Anton Vedoe. I was pleased at his request and gave 
him the required permission but told him if the ice 
did not improve to go south toward Kane Lodge, to 
visit the boat cache at the southern entrance of Col- 
linson's channel, and, if time allowed, to return by the 
way of Cape Hugh Mill examining ice conditions 
toward the British Channel and bringing a full report 
of what he discovered. This I thought would be of 
value to me in preparing for the retreat of a party to 
Cape Flora. I said I would expect him at Camp 
Abruzzi by April 20th, or at the latest by April 30th, 
1904. Porter's sledge was one of the few that had es- 
caped injury, and as it was already loaded with sup- 
plies for two men for thirty days and one dog team for 
twenty-five days it was only necessary to provide dog 
food for Vedoe's team from the sledges in the column. 

We said "auf wiedersehen" to the adventurers out 
on the ice and struck tents for the march back to Cape 
Fligely. We returned to land over our outward bound 
trail climbing the glacier slope and camping on the 
summit of the cape. The slope was steep and it was 
midnight before the last sledge reached the top. On 
the following morning the sledge loads were rear- 
ranged and one loaded sledge with broken runners was 
left at Cape Fligely to be sent for later. Camp Abruzzi, 



88 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the home site, was reached at six p. m. March the 27th, 
from which place but two days before we had begun 
a march which I hoped would advance America's 
prestige in the field of exploration. 

The returning column travelled against a cold, drift- 
ing wind that increased in violence through the after- 
noon and made the trip one to be remembered. It 
soon destroyed the trail we had made on our outward 
journey, but we could see the sun, a very indistinct 
disk, shining at times through a shower of cold snow 
particles that cut our faces like a sand blast, and it 
served as a guiding light. The red signal flags that had 
been placed on the glacier to mark the trail were spots 
of joy that afternoon, for they indicated to us that we 
were travelling in the right direction. Before evening 
we arrived at Camp Abruzzi filled with the pain of a 
second failure, the only balm the thought of the future 
and the hope that through the bitter lesson just ex- 
perienced Victory might yet be wrested from Defeat. 

After the failure of the second sledge journey many 
of the men lost interest in the northern campaign and 
openly expressed their deep felt desire to go home. I 
called for volunteers to stay with me for another at- 
tempt in 1905. Quite a large party offered at first, 
but as the time of leaving drew near a number weakened 
and the little band of true explorers grew smaller and 
smaller. 

I now set about preparations for a sledge journey to 
Cape Flora where the Relief Ship was expected to ar- 
rive in July or August of that year — 1904. 

There were two routes by which Cape Flora might 
be reached. The shorter one led across the glacier to 




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THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 89 

the east of Cape Brorak, where I believed a descent 
could be made to channel ice, thence down between 
Alexander and Rainer islands through the channel to 
the east of Jackson Island and around Cape McClintock 
to the British Channel, down which we might make 
our way to Cape Flora. The other route was by way 
of Kane Lodge, Collinson's Fjord, and Camp Ziegler, 
through Young Sound or along the ice foot to the south 
of Hooker Island to Cape Barentz and then west to 
Cape Flora. This route was considerably longer and 
the first was to be preferred if the British Channel was 
closed. I was daily expecting Porter and Vedoe with 
information of the condition of the channel. 

On April 19th I placed Dr. Vaughn in charge of a 
party with instructions to go to Coburg Island, upon 
which food had been cached by the Baldwin-Ziegler 
Expedition in 1902, and to place there a cache of pony 
forage for the use of the party going south. Signal 
poles were furnished and he was instructed to mark 
a safe trail across the glacier and to bring me informa- 
tion about the condition of ice south of Rudolph Island 
and also to look for signs of Porter and Vedoe. 

The party returned three days later, Dr. Vaughn 
reporting that they had been to the summit of Cape 
Auk but, having found a descent from the glacier im- 
possible, had abandoned further progress toward Coburg 
Island. The Doctor added that while they were en- 
camped on the glacier a storm arose and the corner 
of their tent was ripped by the violence of the wind. 

And so they came back. 

Disappointed at the failure of the party and anxious 
for news of Porter and Vedoe, confronted also with the 



9 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

necessity of finding a safe route across the glacier 
for the party soon to retreat south, early next morn- 
ing, I sent Quartermaster Rilliet with John Vedoe (a 
brother to Porter's companion) and Seaman Duffy 
with two dog sledges and a boat, with instructions to 
go to Cape Fligely and look for signs of the absent 
ones, camping there if sea was open to render assis- 
tance with the boat. At the same time I left camp 
with a dog team and sledge accompanied by Steward 
Spencer, who had been one of Dr. Vaughn's party, 
and who expressed himself as very anxious to go with 
me. 

We climbed the glacier to its summit, finding a 
place to descend on the east shore between capes Rath 
and Habermann, and then set our faces down the 
Newmeyer Channel toward Coburg Island. The chan- 
nel ice was fairly smooth and we hurried on only stop- 
ping for an hour at the western end of Hohenlohe Island 
(the place where Payer, discoverer of the archipelago, 
probably camped in 1876) for the refreshment of a 
cup of tea. We reached Coburg Islet (the most north- 
ern of the Coburg islands) at 10.15 p. m., and there we 
put up our tent. After a meal we turned into our sleep- 
ing bags, tired after a thirteen-hour march. The loud 
barking of the dogs awakened us at five o'clock next 
morning. Under the impression that a bear must be 
approaching, I hastily reached for my rifle and started 
to crawl out of my sleeping bag — when Mr. Porter 
put his face through the flap of our tent and wished us 
good morning! Mr. Vedoe appeared a few minutes 
later. It was a very happy reunion and to me one of 
the most pleasant experiences of the expedition. There 



THE SECOND EFFORT NORTH 91 

was no more sleep for us that morning. We formed 
a happy camp circle breakfasting together, while 
Porter and Vedoe recited the incidents of their travels 
since they had parted from us out on the Polar Ocean 
north of Rudolph Island. They had found the frozen 
sea very rough while attempting to go toward "White 
Land. It would have taken longer than their supplies 
would allow, so they went south, as I had directed, 
toward Kane Lodge on Greely Island, returning by 
the way of Cape Hugh Mill and Coburg Island. They 
had camped the night before at Houen Island and 
were marching to Rudolph Island when they spied our 
little tent. Mr. Porter gave an interesting report of 
condition of caches and ice in the channels. While 
we were talking together the sharp angry bark of our 
dogs denoted the approach of a bear. Pulling out 
their stake chains, Vedoe's team made off over the ice 
after the bear, while the other dogs tugged and pulled j 
and whined and howled in their desire to join in the fun. 
The bear started to retreat as soon as he saw his pur- 
suers. But they soon caught up with him and en- 
gaged him at close range. The dogs, chained to- 
gether, were at a disadvantage. Fearing for their 
safety Vedoe dispatched the bear. As it was, one of 
the best of the team came back from the fight with a 
piece of skin hanging from a cut in his side, where it 
had been ripped by the bear's claws. It called for a 
surgical operation on the part of his owner, and Vedoe 
sewed the raw flesh together disregarding the yelps 
of pain, stating, when it was finished, that his dog was 
"as good as new." 

Latitude sights were taken at noon. Afterward, 



92 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

remembering that it was the Lord's Day, I read to my 
comrades the 107th Psalm. At one p. m. we folded 
our tents and directed our way toward Rudolph Island, 
reaching Cape Auk at midnight. We rounded Cape 
Brorak by cutting our way through the rough pressure 
ice piled on the southwestern coast of Rudolph Island 
as far as Cape Auk. We came that way as I was anx- 
ious to ascertain if it was possible to reach Camp Ab- 
ruzzi by the way of Cape Auk. We approached to 
within sight of the camp, but could not ascend the 
west slope of the glacier at the Cape as the snow had 
melted off and it was a shining surface of slippery glare 
ice. We ascended several hundred feet with the as- 
sistance of our ice axes, and, from that point, Teplitz 
Bay beneath us seemed black with the dark waters of 
an iceless sea. It was necessary to return to the south- 
ern slope where we ascended to a point of rocks and 
encamped at 1.30 A. M., April 25th. It was stormy 
all of the 25 th, but at midnight the wind lost some of 
its force and we broke camp and climbed the southern 
slope of the glacier to the summit of Cape Auk, reach- 
ing the top a little after 4 o'clock in the morning, the 
steepness of the ascent making it necessary to hitch 
two teams of dogs at a time to a sledge. The wind 
calmed as we mounted the summit, over a thousand 
feet high, and in a mist which rendered sight ahead 
difficult we crossed the glacier and descended toward 
Camp Abruzzi, reaching that point at 6.10 A. m. 



CHAPTER XIII 

HOME LONGINGS 

T FOUND, on my arrival at camp, that the Cape 
■*■ Fligely party had returned in safety and that 
in my absence Teplitz Bay had frozen over sufficiently 
to bear the weight of men, animals, and sledges, and 
so the high glacier need not be crossed when the re- 
treating party went south. The time was now draw- 
ing near when the homeseekers were to start for Cape 
Flora to meet the long desired Relief Ship. The zest 
with which they packed their kits and discussed the 
prospect of mingling in the great world once more, had 
its enticing effect upon the weak and undecided. The 
politicians in the retreating body used their influence 
and persuasiveness to enlarge their own party — 
until those to whom "Northward!" had become a 
shibboleth, became, like Gideon's band, fewer and 
fewer. 

Unfortunately, I was obliged to lead the retreating 
party to Cape Flora in person, returning to Camp 
Abruzzi before winter; a plan that had the effect of 
increasing the number of those who were anxious to 
march south, and leave the field of exploration. I did 
not wish any one to remain on Rudolph Island to 
await my return — and march north with me the fol- 
lowing year — -unless he was anxious to stay, and I 
gave orders for all who wished to go to Cape Flora and 

93 



94 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

await the Relief Ship for home to prepare for the 
march south. 

Each member of the retreating party was allowed 
forty-two pounds of personal baggage, the same to 
consist of thirty-five pounds of clothing and a pair of 
sea boots weighing seven pounds, sufficient clothing 
to provide for a stay at Cape Flora should the Relief 
Ship be unsuccessful in reaching the station. Each 
man was also allowed a sleeping bag and blanket, the 
limit of weight being twenty-five pounds for both, and 
members of the Field Department and Officers of the 
ship's company were furnished either a rifle or shot 
gun and ammunition. Nine silk tents were taken for 
the accomodation of the party. Food for thirty- 
eight days on the march was provided for men and 
beasts, and was to be hauled on sixteen pony sledges, 
the ponies to be used as dog food as their loads dis- 
appeared. Two months' food for use of the party at 
Cape Flora in addition to the thirty-eight days' 
rations was carried on eight dog sledges with the camp- 
ing equipment and personal baggage of the party. In 
addition to full rations for three and a third months 
for the men, an extra load of 240 pounds of pemmican 
was distributed on the sledges in the column. When 
packed, the loads on the pony sledges averaged from 
620 to 700 pounds, those on the dog sledges from 546 
to 628 pounds including the weights of the sledges. 
In addition to seven dog teams that were chained up 
awaiting my return to Camp Abruzzi I wished to 
reserve some of the best ponies for use on the sledge 
trip north in 1905. Dr. Newcomb, the Veterinarian, 
had reported glanders among the ponies from time to 



HOME LONGINGS 95 

time and. had been obliged to shoot five of them. On 
the eve of departure, he notified me that it would be 
best to send all the ponies south as there were indi- 
cations of the spread of the disease, which might 
menace the lives of the men. So I was obliged to 
order all the ponies hitched up to drag the sledges 
south, and all I could depend upon for success in 1905 
were the few dog teams reserved to remain behind. 
It is true that there was the alternative of keeping 
all the dog teams at Camp Abruzzi, the men who were 
leaving hauling extra loads; but there was the pos- 
sibility of the non-arrival of the Relief Ship and the 
need of clothing and equipment for a winter at Cape 
Flora — which necessitated loads too heavy for the 
men to haul. 

After arriving at Cape Flora I intended to return 
with a few men in the fall to my Northern Station, 
Relief Ship or no Relief Ship. But it would be al- 
most impossible for that large party to make the re- 
turn trip to Camp Abruzzi after the good sledging of 
early spring was over. So when the men left Teplitz 
Bay it was for good and meant the loss of service to the 
expedition of nearly all of them, and they could not be 
considered in any other light than as a care and source 
of anxiety to the leader until they were aboard the 
Relief Ship. 

Ziegler Polar Expedition 

Camp "Abruzzi," Teplitz Bay, 0. P. R. I. 

April 30th, 1904. 
To the Members of the Ziegler Polar Expedition: 

During my absence from Camp "Abruzzi" Mr. Wm. J. Peters, repre- 
senting me as Commanding Officer, will be in command of Expedition 
party and in charge of all Expedition property at this point. 



96 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Members of the Expedition at Camp "Abruzzi" will observe any rules 
Mr. Peters may make for the government of party. 

Let no question of who shall be this or that distract your attention. 
Remember that he that serves most is he that deserves most, and that 
the poorer man he is and the further removed from a gentlemen the 
more he expects — the louder his expressed self-conceit. 

I appreciate the spirit of loyalty that prompts you to stay and I realise 
that you know the hard work that will be necessary before we can go 
home with honour. 

Be particular in regard to care of the dogs and in moving stock, sledges, 
boats, etc. No boat of any character is to be taken from camp without 
permission of Mr. Peters or the man he may appoint to command should 
he leave before my return, and no one is to leave camp without permission. 

Members of the Expedition advance post! You are to help the cause 
of the Expedition in the future by habits of carefulness in the present, 
and a gentlemanly, considerate conduct toward each other that will 
make your stay at this northern latitude a happy and successful one. 

Necessity takes me south, but my thoughts will be up here and at the 
first possible opportunity I intend to return. As the party is a small 
one each member is particularly valuable and sickness of one or two would 
be extra work for the others, so be particularly careful in regard to health 
and take no unnecessary risks. 

Ammunition should not be wasted and bears should not be shot away 
from camp. 

Should Mr. Peters leave camp before my return, the member that he 
will place in command will be responsible to me for conduct of affairs at 
camp and members will recognise him as representing the Commanding 
Officer in his absence. 

With deep felt desire that a good Providence will bring a new reign of 
peace and prosperity over the affairs of the Expedition, I am 

Yours truly, 

Anthony Fiala, 

Commanding. 

Ziegler Polar Expedition 
Oamp "Abruzzi" Crown Prince Rudolf Island 

April 30, 1904. 
Mr.Wm.J. Peters, Chief Scientist. 

Dear Sir: 

In leaving camp, you as my representative will be in complete charge of 
party and equipment at Camp "Abruzzi," and I will leave to your judg- 
ment the management of affairs. Mr. R. W. Porter, Mr. Chas. E. Rilliet, 
and Mr. Anton Vedoe are to leave in about ten days on an exploring and 
surveying trip and before their departure Mr. Rilliet will assist you in 



HOME LONGINGS 97 

taking care of equipment and rearranging quarters, matters that we have 
discussed together. As understood you are to leave Camp ' ' Abruzzi ' ' with 
Mr. R. R. Tafel, Mr. J. Vedoe, and Steward Spencer for Oape Flora toward 
the end of July, 1904 with the Indian canoe, tent, and two sledges and 
teams. There is a small sledge at Cape Auk, and another could be con- 
structed so that the whole party could occupy the Indian canoe if nec- 
essary to cross open water. Mr. Porter will give you a list of caches on 
the way down. 

Before leaving you will place the man who in your judgment is most 
able and loyal in charge of camp, giving him written instructions. 

Should Relief Ship appear early I shall attempt to return before you 
leave. 

I am anxious that the men should not leave camp without your per- 
mission and that they should take particular care of their health. 

One Mannlicher rifle is to be kept in rack for general use and a Henry 
or Remington, and men are to be cautioned about use of ammunition. 
No one must be allowed to take boat from camp without your permission 
or to cross ice crack after bears. 

Allow me to express to you before leaving my deep feeling of appre- 
ciation of your valued assistance and loyal help through the trying times 
of the last ten months. 

Yours respectfully, 

Anthony Fiala, 

Commanding. 



Ziegler Polar Expedition 
Oamp "Abruzzi," Crown Prince Rudolf Island 

April 30, 1904. 
Mr. Russell W. Porter, Artist and Asst. Scientist. 

Dear Sir : — 

In approval of your report on sledge journey from which you and Mr- 
A. Vedoe have just returned it gives me much pleasure to compliment 
you on the excellent work done and on the conscientious and able manner 
in which you have carried out my instructions, and the good condition in 
which the entire equipment returned to Camp Abruzzi. I am pleased 
to know of the good work done by your companion Mr. A. Vedoe. 

As already discussed between us, you are to leave in a week or ten days 
on a sledge trip for the purpose of exploration and survey, to report at 
Cape Flora by July 15th, 1904. 

You will be accompanied by Quartermaster Chas. E. Rilliet and Mr. 
A. Vedoe, and be equipped with two sledges, two kayaks, and two teams 
of dogs, with camp equipment and provisions as already provided for. 
The details of the work we have already talked over several times and you 



98 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

know of my desire for more definite knowledge of Graham Bell Land, and 
of the unexplored country in Zichy Land. 

In compliance with an expressed wish of Mr. William Ziegler you will 
simply letter or number newly discovered islands or lands. 
Wishing you Godspeed, I am 

Respectfully yours, 

Anthony Fialx, 

Commanding. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE RETREAT SOUTH TO CAPE FLORA 

/~\N THE evening of April 30th, after the column 
^^ was formed on the snow in front of our quarters, 
I called together the little band who were to stay at 
the Northern Station, and told them that I would re- 
turn in the summer or fall, and that I would bring 
with me letters from home expected on the Relief 
Ship that year — and possibly new men and dogs. We 
shook hands all around, and then I gave the signal to 
start our backward march. At 7.45 p. m. we left, a 
party of twenty-five men, sixteen pony sledges, and 
eight dog teams and sledges. Teplitz Bay was frozen 
over with a new sheet of thin salt ice upon which the 
sledge runners dragged hard. We found the ice 
around Cape Auk piled up in confused masses of great 
blocks and we had considerable difficulty in helping 
the ponies and dogs up a steep slope of ice on to the 
rough surface of the heavy floe. Little "Rabbit," 
a pony veteran of the Baldwin trip, created laughter 
and surprise by hauling his heavy load up the steep 
grade and walking over all sorts of obstacles alone and 
seemingly without much effort, leaving his driver 
some distance behind. From Cape Auk to Cape 
Brorak we found the ice in ridges and broken floes 
through which we forced our way all night only halt- 
ing for an hour at 1.30 in the morning when the cook 

99 

LOfC, 



f 
ioo FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

and myself prepared tea for the troop of thirsty men. 
The ice grew better as we neared Cape Brorak where 
the rough surface was drifted over with hard packed 
snow. I had hoped to make Coburg Island the first 
march, but the hard work of rounding Cape Auk told on 
some of the men, and about 5.30 a. m., on the smooth 
channel ice, near a berg from which we could get ice 
for fresh water, I ordered the column to halt and camp. 
The sun was shining brilliantly, and the assemblage 
of tents backed by the high, towering, basaltic slope 
of Brorak made a very effective picture. The long 
picket line was stretched in the snow by Sergeant Moul- 
ton and two of the sailors, and then the little ponies 
were taken out of their harness and picketed in a row 
to the line and given a feed of hay. In the meantime 
the dog drivers unharnessed their noisy charges, and 
made them secure for the hours of rest, the dogs 
promptly starting to dig holes in the snow with their 
paws, from which occupation they did not desist 
until the odour of pemmican filled the air. When the 
yelps and fights which accompanied the evening meal 
were over, and when even the most vigilant eye in the 
pack could find not a morsel more, they crawled into 
their holes and were soon asleep. 

I chose the night to travel in for our course was 
toward the south, and there was less possibility of 
snow-blindness with the sun at our backs. Though 
the season was too far advanced for very cold weather, 
and the thermometer in May very seldom dropped 
lower than 20 degrees below zero, still the warmer rays 
of the sun shining on our tents at the time of its great- 
est altitude conduced to sleep, and our numerous 



THE RETREAT TO CAPE FLORA 101 

animals luxuriated in the sunshine. A further advan- 
tage was in the fact that the surface of the snow was 
harder and afforded better going, when our luminary 
was low and in the north, during the time we ar- 
bitrarily termed night. 

Little Jimmy, our English cabin boy, who could 
blow the bugle, and who sounded the "reveille" every 
morning, was often obliged to shake the ice out of his 
instrument, and warm the mouthpiece before placing 
it to his lips. As on our marches north, we found the 
cook tent to be a great convenience, and it meant be- 
sides economy in fuel, food, and weight. The tent was 
held up by a single pole and the walls stretched out by 
guy ropes made fast to pins pushed into the hard snow 
or tied to other sledges if the surface was too soft or 
too hard. On entering our canvas domicile, Cook 
Thwing and I took down our sleeping bags from where 
they had been placed on top of cookers and food and 
stowed them in a corner of the tent, and then, while 
Thwing went to some convenient berg or glacier face 
for ice, I lighted the cookers. They contained large 
Khotal burners, an American improvement on the 
Primus burner used by Doctor Nansen and the Duke 
of the Abruzzi. They worked very well — giving a large 
hot flame on a small expenditure of oil — but had a 
tendency to get easily out of order, through poor con- 
struction of valves and oil containers. This neces- 
sitated careful manipulation and a supply of tools al- 
ways within convenient reach. In very low temper- 
atures the Primus is undoubtedly the best form of 
burner as it is the simplest and so light in weight that 
several can be carried against the possibility of one's 



io2 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

giving out. For a large party the four and a half inch 
Khotal burners were very effective, and many times 
I halted the column after a four or five hours' march 
and prepared hot coffee, and in one hour from halting 
we were on the march again, each one of the twenty- 
five men having received two cups of the steaming 
beverage and all the water he wished to drink; quick 
time when it is considered that all the water had to be 
melted from ice at the temperature of the air. The 
regular meals of the day, of course, required more 
time. Daily, each man received a bread ration of one 
pound of army bread and three pork and bean biscuits. 
Once in seven days the Commissary distributed to 
each man the weekly ration of a pound can of con- 
densed milk, twenty-one ounces of sugar, and one 
pound of butter. Sweet chocolate was also furnished, 
about three ounces a day per man. The ration used 
was the same as that put up for the sledge march 
north, and the packages prepared during the winter 
for use on the floating ice fields served excellently in 
the retreat south. About fourteen ounces of meat 
a day were allowed each man. Pemmican constituted 
the larger proportion of our meat allowance, but 
corned beef, Mortedello sausage, beef tongue, smoked 
beef, and Vienna sausage helped to add variety to 
the menu. A daily allowance of three and a half 
ounces of either the U. S. Army Emergency Ration of 
cracked wheat and beef, or Erbswurst (peameal) — 
to be alternated with the Blue and Red Bovril Rations 
of beef and potatoes and peameal — was carried, besides 
cornmeal and oatmeal. Two meals were cooked each 
day in addition to the coffee prepared at the mid- 



THE RETREAT TO CAPE FLORA 103 

night halts. One was distributed to the men imme- 
diately after the sounding of the " reveille " before the 
march, the other after the tents were pitched for the 
hours of rest. The menu consisted of coffee or tea, 
bread, butter, cold meats, and a stew. It was upon 
this stew that the Cook and I bent our energies in the 
hope of producing something appetising and new each 
day. The Erbswurst stew seemed to be a favourite 
with the party, and when filled with little pieces of 
Vienna sausage and seasoned with onions it was a 
pleasure to hear the comments of approbation wafted 
through our canvas walls from the other tents. 
Bovril beef and potatoes was also liked, and several 
times we took the pork and bean biscuits, baked by 
our industrious Steward during the winter, and made 
a stew from them. Mixed with a little Erbswurst it 
was thought to be delicious. The pemmican stew 
that was so relished in all our sledge journeys in very 
low temperatures was not in favour on the retreat, 
particularly when the summer drew on and the tem- 
perature gradually rose toward the zero point. Be- 
sides the cook tent there were eight small pyramidal 
tents of pongee silk. When a meal was ready one 
man from each tent came to the Cook with a mess tin 
for the share of food allowed his tent, his comrades 
meanwhile turning into their sleeping bags. On his 
return, sitting in the pleasant warmth of the bag of 
deerskin, they partook of the hot food, and smoked 
their pipes of peace. Nothing so delights a sailor's 
heart, as a smoke after a warm meal, and a chance to 
swap stories with his mates before he falls off at last 
into restful sleep. 



io4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

From Cape Brorak we marched toward the eastern 
end of Alexander Island, stopping at Coburg Island 
for a hot drink. The cache of pemmican left there by 
Baldwin in 1902 was found to be in good condition, 
though there were indications that Polar bears had 
visited the place. I wished to add some pemmican 
and sugar to the loads at this point, but could not find 
a man in the column whose sledge load seemed light 
enough to justify it. At our second camp near the 
glacier face of Alexander Island, we killed our first 
pony for dog food. " Rabbit, " who had done so much 
hard work in 1902, had swollen legs and was condemned 
to be shot. From the second camp our course was 
changed to southwest and we made our way through 
a fog travelling in this new country by compass. 

When the sun broke through the clouds we found 
that our course was correct and before long we entered 
the Italian Channel- a short cut to Cecil Rhodes 
Fjord. 

In this march to Cape Flora over the frozen channels 
of the Archipelago, a distance of about 160 miles, we 
were favoured with good weather generally, and many 
long stretches of smooth ice and hard packed snow 
where the men had only to walk beside their sledges. 
I was quite pleased with the progress we made as the 
days went by, though our rate of marching was of 
necessity slow, being always determined by the speed 
of the slowest man in the column, There were many 
places where the ponies could have been put to a trot, 
but some of the men would then have been obliged to 
ride on the sledges and that was never permitted save 
in cases of sickness or emergency, for the loads were 



THE RETREAT TO CAPE FLORA 105 

heavy enough without adding the weight of a man. 
We arrived at Cape McClintock, the northwest ex- 
tremity of Salisbury Island, just before midnight of 
May 5th. There had been some complaint in regard 
to the weight of the loads, and to lighten the sledges 
I cached 240 pounds of pemmican at the Cape, near 
a great needle of basalt that would always stand out 
as a prominent landmark, the cache to serve as a depot 
in future sledge operations. 

We were glad to find the British Channel solidly 
frozen, with a comparatively smooth ice, and no dark 
clouds on the horizon indicative of water holes. In 
the channel we were assailed at times by rather cold 
winds of which I was always glad, as the column would 
then travel much faster. On those days the halts were 
few in number, and the distance covered greater. We 
camped at Cape Fisher, the boldest headland on the 
coast, and then pitched our tents at Cape Richtofen, 
from where, on the 8th of May, we reached Point 
Arthur, the northern end of Koettlitz Island, where 
we camped. And then our troubles began! Our 
progress was obstructed by rough ice jammed in be- 
tween Cape Murray and Prince George Island and 
Koettlitz Island. We had been favoured with com- 
paratively smooth road up to that point. The wider 
part of the channel, opening at its northern end into 
the Victoria Sea, had undoubtedly, been cleared of its 
broken ice in the fall by the many southeast winds 
and then frozen over evenly during the winter. The 
same winds that opened the upper waters forced the ice 
in the lower channel, in a great jam of broken cakes, 
into the narrow space we were about to enter. After 



io6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

supper on May 8th I climbed the cliff of Koettlitz 
Island and walked down toward its southern end, 
reaching the place of its greatest height. It had been 
foggy but just as I reached the elevation the sun broke 
through the clouds and illuminated the channel, show- 
ing me the ice in inconceivable roughness piled against 
the western shore of Koettlitz Island, with just a 
short streak (about a mile) of smooth ice inshore in a 
little bay. It was fortunate I could see the great 
towering ridges that closed the southern end of the bay 
and surrrounded it to the west — a veritable " cul de 
sac" — for it saved me from leading the column into 
a place from which there was no escape, except by 
retracing our steps. 

Farther out toward the centre of the channel the 
ice was in smaller cakes. There were no high pres- 
sure ridges, but instead a confusion of rough ice, 
mingled with thin smooth streaks. A large tabular 
iceberg, that bore W. S. W. by compass, marked a 
seemingly smooth course to the south, a swathe that 
it had probably cut in its drift north, and I resolved 
that our next march would be to the south of that ice- 
berg. Just as I got its bearing the fog descended and 
nothing was visible but the smooth streak inshore 
and the circle of rough ice to the west through which 
we would have to force our way toward the channel's 
centre. 

I went on my long walk back to the camp, and as 
I reached the overshadowing bluff, I stopped to gaze 
at the picturesque grouping of tents containing my 
sleeping comrades, the little black spots — each spot a 
sleeping dog— and the long line of ponies their heads 



THE RETREAT TO CAPE FLORA 107 

dropped in slumber. I met the Captain and Mate 
who had just climbed the hill, and were looking anx- 
iously toward the channel whose broken fields of ice 
were so rapidly disappearing under a thick veil of fog 
that hardly anything remained visible but the decep- 
tive streak of bay ice inshore. 

The following day I led the party toward the channel 
centre. Though rough going it was considerably bet- 
ter ice than I expected. We camped south of the 
berg I had sighted the day before. Some of the wise 
ones in the column wondered in grieved tones why 
we did not take the smooth strip that they had seen 
from the camp before we started, while others, troubled 
by the roughness of the ice, became critical of the route 
chosen. I had come to realise that much of the criti- 
cism emanated from fatigue and empty stomachs. 
Judgments were more just after a rest and a good meal. 
Contrary to the generally accepted theory regarding 
a sailor on foot, the members of the crew of the lost 
America proved particularly good travellers, and were 
cheerful and helpful during the entire march. Sea- 
man Montrose accompanied me in the lead through 
the rough ice, and with an axe helped me clear a track 
for the caravan. Sergt. Moulton, who had the leading 
pony sledge, was also always ready with his axe to 
clear a way. I found that the ice was broken in some- 
what regular lines extending from the southeast to the 
northwest, and that cutting through the ridges directly 
at right angles to the breaking line, was the shortest 
way of crossing these rough places. 

We usually were able to go quite a distance south- 
east down the line of lifted ice cakes between ridges, 



108 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

until we would run into a V formed by a junction with 
another ridge, which necessitated another cut at right 
angles. So our trail took the form of the teeth of a 
gigantic saw, but led us on slowly but surely toward 
our destination. Fog added its depressing influence 
and delayed us some, and, inopportunely, just before 
we entered the worst ice, one of our ponies died from 
exhaustion, and his load had to be distributed among 
the other sledges. The dogs were not in immediate 
need of a meal, having been fed the evening before, 
and we could not afford to drag the extra weight. So 
we left his carcass behind us as food for the Polar bears 
that once in a while we sighted in our rear. The bears, 
however, came into camp when we reached Cape Flora 
later on, and we killed and ate them, and so our faith- 
ful pony undoubtedly returned to us. 




THE CAMP AT CAPE ROOSEVELT— MAY 4, 1904 




' ONE OF OUR PONIES DIED FROM EXHAUSTION AND HIS LOAD HAD TO BE DISTRIBUTED 
AMONG THE OTHER SLEDGES " 




O 3 
fJ to 

^ <S 
< <V 




, 



CHAPTER XV 

CAMP JACKSON 

A T NINE o'clock on the morning of May 16th, six- 
•'■ *- teen days after leaving Teplitz Bay, we rounded 
the sea front of Cape Flora, and ascended the height 
of land upon which were situated the houses of the 
Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition of 1894-97. As we 
reached the top of the raised beach all eyes were turned 
south in hope of beholding an open ocean. But dis- 
appointment was ours. A vast sheet of glistening 
white, the Barentz Sea, from horizon to horizon, lay 
silent and dead in the grasp of the Ice King. The 
column reached its destination in splendid condition, 
men and animals and stores. The twenty-five mem- 
bers of the party were in excellent health, and the dogs 
and ponies vied with each other in hauling the sledges 
up the slope to the camp site we were to occupy. 
Three of the ponies had been shot for dog food on the 
march and one died from exhaustion, leaving twelve 
in harness. There were sixty-four dogs in the eight 
teams, and twenty sledges with their loads. 

Our tents were raised on the historic snow-covered 
rocks of Cape Flora where Jackson spent three years 
with his comrades, and where his dramatic meeting 
with Doctor Nansen took place; where Leigh Smith 
and twenty-five men passed a winter existing on walruses 

and Polar bears, and where the Duke of the Abruzzi 

109 



no FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

had stored eight months' provisions for twenty men — 
stores of incalculable value to us, as was proved 
later. 

Our arrival at Cape Flora was marked by an event, 
which to me was one of the saddest of the two years. 
The ponies which had served us so faithfully for many 
months and, as their last hard task, had dragged down 
from Teplitz Bay the heavily loaded sledges, were 
reported to be infected with glanders and condemned 
to be shot. 

In my plans for the future I had arranged to embark 
all the dogs and about six of the best ponies on the Re- 
lief Ship, when she arrived, and, with a few of the old 
party and some volunteers from the newcomers, have 
Mr. Champ, whom I expected to be in charge of the 
Relief, land us at Camp Ziegler, from where, just as 
soon as the channels froze over, we would make a 
rapid march to Camp Abruzzi. I thought it more 
than probable that the ship could make the trip, for 
Cape Flora was isolated from the rest of the Archipel- 
ago by water ways that often remained open all fall 
and winter and according to observations made by 
Jackson in the spring as well. The Relief Ship could 
then return to Cape Flora, take on the large party 
there, and steam home. 

When I asked Veterinarian Newcomb to choose out 
four of the ponies in best condition, he told me that 
all were infected with glanders and farcy except two, 
one a balking, badly broken pony we had named 
"Happy Hooligan"; the other, the slowest moving 
animal in the column. This equine had been dubbed 
" Windy " in honour of one of the doctors of the party, 



CAMP JACKSON in 

who had received that sobriquet because of his ever 
ready and overflowing fountain of speech. After the 
Veterinarian's verdict, all the ponies save the two 
just mentioned were led off to the slaughter. ' ' Happy ' ' 
and "Windy" throve and grew sleek and fat on the 
vegetation found underneath the snow and on the 
wind swept flats at Cape Flora. The dead ponies 
served as food for our hungry dogs. 

The Relief Ship was expected to arrive in July or 
early August, a long wait, to provide for which, we had 
on our sledges over two months' food supply for the 
twenty-five men, in addition to about four hundred 
pounds of sledge rations and several hundred pounds 
of pemmican that had been brought along as dog food, 
but which would serve admirably for the men in case 
of need. In addition to the supplies we had brought 
with us, were the great cache placed there by the Duke 
of the Abruzzi and the food supplies left by Jackson 
and the Andree Relief Expedition. 

As there is nothing certain above the ice line in the 
Arctic, it was necessary to extend our preparations 
at once to provide for a stay through the winter should 
the Relief Ship not arrive. The officers and crew of 
the lost America therefore laboured industriously to 
remove from their icy envelopes the barrels and cases 
of food deposited by other explorers. The larger 
proportion of the food thus obtained was secured from 
the cache of the Italian Duke. A quantity of good 
bread, meat, coffee, tea, etc., was found which had been 
left by Jackson while the smaller cache of food of the 
Andree Relief Expedition provided us with sugar, 
coffee, butter, medicines, and clothing. The Duke's 



ii2 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

stores were found packed in a ten-sided portable house. 
This place was cleared of its stores and the eight mem- 
bers of the Field Department were quartered there. 

An abandoned cooking range was found out in the 
snow and repaired, Fireman Hovlick manufacturing 
a stove pipe from old petroleum tanks, doing this work 
on an anvil improvised from a packing case and an 
iron grate bar. After the food stores had all been 
tallied they were placed in the building that was origin- 
ally the stable used by Jackson for his ponies. 

"Elmwood," Jackson's house, which he had thought 
crowded with his party of eight, was cleared of its 
accumulations of years and in it bunks were built 
to accomodate seventeen men. 

By May 24th, the entire party was housed and the 
tents were taken down and stored away. 

In the early days of June, thousands of gulls, loons, 
and guillemots came in from the south and the high 
rocks of the cape resounded with ceaseless chatter of 
innumerable birds. The sun circled above our horizon 
day and night, melting the great snow drifts and ex- 
posing the rocks. Beautiful little Arctic poppies 
lifted their white and gold cups to the King of the Sky, 
and green mosses and coloured lichens gave relief to 
the eye after the constant glare of snow and ice. 

Next to the absorbing occupation of scanning the 
horizon for signs of the Relief Ship — was the anxious 
watch for Polar bears which constituted the major 
part of our supply of fresh meat. Hunting these 
creatures was the most exciting sport at Cape Flora, 
or "Camp Jackson," as it was named. The sailors 
in "Elmwood" vied with the Field Department in 



CAMP JACKSON 113 

the roundhouse (Little Italy, they named it) in the 
hunt for Ursus Polaris. The man who first sighted the 
bear was privileged to track the game assisted by his 
comrades, and this rule was generally observed. Some- 
times a bear was sighted on the ice off shore by the 
men of both houses at the same time and this usually 
resulted in a race, a hunting party from each house 
setting out. The one to first cross the tide crack 
below camp, and set foot on the sea ice had the honour 
of chasing the bear. From that moment the hunt was 
a question of legs, for the Polar bear is an arrant coward 
and generally makes off at the least indication of dan- 
ger. Exceeding in intensity the hunting fever dis- 
played by the men was the wild excitement among 
the dogs on the advent of a bear. Their sense of vision 
was not keen enough to sight game that was as far as 
a mile off shore, but they seemed to read the actions 
of the men, and when a party left the camp with guns 
every individual canine would appear yelping with 
delight and running as if mad in the thirst for blood. 
Out on the ice they would spread, like a battalion of 
skirmishers in advance of the hunters. The height 
of the ice blocks and the dogs' low stature prevented 
them from seeing their prey at a distance, and they 
would extend their line in every direction in an aim- 
less search for the bear. At last one would sight him 
from the top of an ice cake, and with a sharp bark, 
and like a projectile from a gun, he would fly on the 
track of the retreating beast, every dog in the pack 
within hearing of that signal, running and leaping 
with new vigour over the rough ice, several of the 
wise ones making flank movements to get around in 



ii 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

front of the enemy. Before long the pack surrounded, 
him, their united yelps indicating the place and pro- 
gress of the fight, the bear answering the cry of the pack 
with low heavy growls of anger and moans of fear. 
What must the Monarch of the Ice have thought of 
these strange creatures, who showed no fear of him, 
who evaded his sharp claws and teeth so easily, and 
had the temerity to attack his sacred person! While 
he chased five dogs, ten of them would crowd his rear 
and draw blood. With a frightful roar he would 
wheel to crush them, but presto! they had jumped 
back, and he faced a circle of open jaws. At last, in 
desperation, with powerful leaps, he would make for 
the open sea and safety. But these new enemies — 
they were neither seal nor walrus, they could outrun 
him, and sink their wicked fangs into his muscles and 
make him stop to fight for his life. Just as he was 
exhausted after his long effort, and at bay within the 
ever narrowing circle of his pursuers, a new enemy draws 
near, the sight of whom is Fear itself, and Death. 
With one supreme effort he frees himself from the 
imprisoning teeth and makes a dash for liberty. A 
flash and a roar — a torturing pain — a world gone red! 
Of what avail his long, hard fight? Victory is on the 
side of the heaviest artillery! 

/During the summer our party secured seventeen 
bears, and we luxuriated in bear steaks fried in butter.* 
Most of the men enjoyed the meat which was not un- 
like beef when carefully prepared by cutting away all 
fat before frying. The fat gave the meat a rancid 
taste. 

In the nesting time of the gulls and loons, several 



CAMP JACKSON 115 

of the sailors went up the talus daily dragging with 
them a long ladder that they had constructed and, 
at the risk of their lives, clambered up the precipitous 
side of the great rock and robbed the nests. Many 
of the eggs were fresh and when fried with the ham 
we had found in the Duke's cache gave us a breakfast 
not to be despised. 

Eight brant and several hundred loons were shot 
and added to our larder, and sixteen great walruses and 
about the same number of seals. Walrus liver was 
considered a delicacy but the meat proper was rather 
tough and jnade one think he was dining on auto- 
mobile tiresy 

Two men who had elected to remain at Camp Ab- 
ruzzi, surprised us by their arrival at Cape Flora, on 
the evening of July 5th. They made no secret of the 
fact that they had grown discouraged with the outlook. 
Annexing themselves to Mr. Porter's exploring party 
they accompanied it as far as the northern extremity 
of Northbrook Island. When Porter stopped there 
to make observations, they proceeded to " Elmwood." 
Porter and his party joined us two days later. He 
had run a traverse and mapped the islands from Camp 
Abruzzi down to Cape Flora by the way of Kane Lodge 
and Camp Ziegler, and, in compliance with my in- 
structions, had attempted to enter the unknown coun- 
try named by Payer, Zichy Land, but in this he was 
unsuccessful. 

He reported the fact that his party had shot a num- 
ber of ptarmigan, interesting as the first recorded 
appearance of these birds in the Archipelago. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE VAIN WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 

'"pHE days of waiting palled. It was now mid- 
•*• summer and as yet there was no sign of the 
vessel that was to carry the homesick sojourners back 
to their native land. The men spent many anxious 
hours straining their eyes to glimpse a sail and often 
we were called out of our huts by a cry — "the ship! 
the ship!" But it was invariably a false alarm and 
the "ship" proved to be a distant iceberg with its 
shadow side turned toward us, or a column of vapour 
rising out of a water hole near the horizon giving the 
appearance of a steamer's smoke. 

As late as the end of July, a closed sea stretched to 
meet the sky — a sullen sheet of rugged ice. 

Thinking that there might be an open sea to the east 
beyond our view circle in which a ship could reach the 
land, and feeling the necessity for action, I made a 
sledge trip to Cape Barentz accompanied by Seaman 
Duffy. We carried a canoe lashed to our sledge in 
which we placed our tent and equipment. The high 
and numerous pressure ridges piled up against the 
glacier face of Northbrook Island obliged us to trend 
several miles seaward. The going there was better 
but we were troubled with open holes and moving ice 
cakes — and although, as the crow flies, Cape Barentz 
was barely twenty miles from Cape Flora, we did not 

116 






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SIXTEEN WALRUSES WERE CAPTURED AT CAPE FLORA DURING THE SUMMER OF 11104 



THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 117 

reach the former rocky promontory for two days. 
When we gained the summit of the cape we were dis- 
appointed to find nothing but ice off to the horizon, 
the only open water, the hole over which we had 
paddled our canoe to reach the shore. We erected a 
signal pole on the highest point and cached a message 
at its foot in a cairn of rocks. We turned our faces in 
the direction of Cape Flora with very little hope in 
our hearts that relief would reach us that year. The 
ice bound condition of the sea at that late date pre- 
cluding the possibility of a ship's arrival. 

When we were not engaged together in hauling the 
sledge out of a water hole or in helping the dogs drag 
it across a high ridge, I ran ahead to pick out a way 
and Duffy followed with the dogs and sledge often 
singing some popular song. His favourite was "My 
Sweetheart Lives in Tennessee." Near Cape Barentz 
we found a number of loons swimming in a water 
hole and with four shots from my Mannlicher carbine 
I knocked over nine of the birds, Duffy launching the 
canoe and picking them up, killing the wounded ones 
with his paddle. In attempting to cross a water lane, 
I leaped for what I took to be a cake of ice floating in 
its centre, intending to jump from that on to the solid 
ice beyond. It promptly let me through as it was only 
a mass of snow. The dogs, close behind, seeing my 
plight, jumped for what looked like a solid cake off 
to my right, and the whole team went in. The ice on 
each side of the lane was high and rounded off on the 
edges by the action of sun and water and I could not 
grasp its slippery surface. The dogs incumbered by 
their harness floundered around in danger of drowning. 



n8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Duffy made a flying leap and succeeded in getting upon 
solid ice. He helped me out and together we got the 
team on to the floe. Poor dogs ! They had been in 
the water so much on the trip that we could not 
blame them for refusing to cross when we reached the 
next water hole, and we were obliged to drag them 
through the freezing sea. I will never forget how they 
trembled with fear, when we embarked on a small 
cake of ice — Duffy, myself, the sledge, and the team 
of dogs. It was a heavy load on a cranky craft with 
the sea awash, but we ferried across the lead in safety. 

The dog food gave out on our return. Two bears 
crossed our path several days before, but we did not 
need the meat then, and our load was heavy enough 
for our little team. 

Two dogs had followed us from camp running loose. 
It was one of these free rovers, Monkey by name, who 
came to our help in this hour of need. His keen eye 
sighted a bear and he immediately gave chase. One 
wee dog seemed but a good mouthful and bruin stopped 
to make a meal. But by this time Monkey had re- 
inforcements — his late comrade and a man with a 
gun. When I came up Ursus Polaris was circling 
about in a water hole growling and hissing at the two 
dogs which prevented his getting out on the ice. He 
would draw himself half way out and drive at the dogs 
with his claws only to be forced back into the pool. 
A bullet from the Mannlicher ended the contest. A 
cold drizzle was falling and I felt for Duffy holding the 
team and waiting for me somewhere out on the ice. 
It was sometime later that together we trudged be- 
side an empty sledge to where the dead bear lay. The 



THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 119 

team knew what was in store for them and pulled 
like mad. If the road had been smooth we could have 
sat upon the sledge and have enjoyed a ride. The 
bear was heavy and it was all we could do to haul him 
to the tent. While we were removing the pelt and cut- 
ting up the carcass two bears approached to within 
twenty yards of us and watched proceedings. For- 
tunately the team was chained or there would have 
been a chase pell mell over water holes and ridges. 

I succeeded at last in driving the beasts away with- 
out harming them. Believing in the preservation of 
game, especially in a barren land where little food 
is I had early instructed the members of the ex- 
pedition that, except in defence, no bear must be killed 
unless needed for food. 

The temperature on the trip varied between twenty- 
six and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Our clothing was 
soaked at times by rains, and we did not enjoy 
the luxury of a dry pair of stockings until our return 
to "Elmwood." 

Pressure ridges were high, the pools of water many 
and treacherous, the snow deep and troublesome, but, 
notwithstanding, the trip was to me a sort of pleasure 
excursion. After the toil of the day we raised the 
tent and prepared our simple meal of pemmican stew 
and tea. While the pot was steaming we sat on our 
sleeping bags, Duffy contentedly puffing his pipe and 
telling me sailor yarns in a rich brogue. He always 
enjoyed his meals and complimented the cook. He 
was good company and I was sorry when our week's 
outing came to an end. 

On my return to camp, Assistant Engineer Vedoe 



120 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

showed me samples of coal that he had found in a 
vein about 600 feet up the talus not far from " Elm- 
wood." The coal burned freely and its discovery 
relieved us from much anxiety, as the failure of the 
Relief Ship to appear indicated that the larger part 
of the party would have to remain for the winter at 
Cape Flora. Only a small amount of coal remained 
from the supply left by Jackson and the Duke of the 
Abruzzi but over twenty tons of it were mined out of 
the frozen clay and carried down the steep talus on 
the backs of the men. Thus the problem of keeping 
warm during the winter of 1904-05 was solved for 
the Cape Flora party. 

Chief Scientist Peters joined us on the last day of 
August, accompanied by Assistant Scientist Tafel and 
John Vedoe. The party had left Camp Abruzzi July 
8th, in a canoe, and arrived at Eaton Island August 
4th after a trying passage down the British Channel 
by water and ice. Scientific instruments and records 
weighing about 200 pounds were brought down to 
Eaton Island where they were cached. Mr. Peters 's 
party found DeBruyne Sound filled with broken field 
ice in motion, and they waited at Eaton Island for the 
sound to clear, subsisting on a cache of food that I had 
placed there in 1903. The ice remaining fast, and the 
sound showing no signs of clearing, Mr. Peters and 
his companions pushed their loaded canoe over the 
rough surface to Camp Point, the passage occupying 
five days. There the canoe and camp outfit were 
cached and they proceeded in a fog over the glacier of 
Northbrook Island to our camp. 

Mr. Peters brought the sad news that the Nor- 



THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 121 

wegian Fireman, Sigurd Myhre, had died at Camp 
Abruzzi on May 16th, after an illness of several weeks. 
He had been laid to rest in a frozen grave on the sum- 
mit of the rocky plateau toward Cape Saulen, the most 
northern tomb, I believe, in the world. 

The birds left us in the latter part of August and we 
missed their cheerful chatter. As the sun sank lower 
the temperature fell and cold freezing winds and driv- 
ing flurries of snow assailed us. 

Our brief summer was over all too soon and the 
darkness and frigidity of another winter drew on apace. 

Duffy, said to me, "Shure this is a great counthry! 
The summer commences on the 26th day of July at 
noon, and, begob, at half pasht one of the same day, 
we are in the middle of winter!" 

In the early days of September fierce winds and 
storms broke the solid sea ice into huge blocks and we 
saw open water southward for the first time. 

With the failure of the Relief Ship to arrive by 
September 10th, I made preparations to winter the 
large party remaining there and to return myself to 
the men at Teplitz Bay, to engage once again in the 
work of the expedition at its Northern Station. 

I could no longer depend upon the Relief Ship to 
assist me in my march north or lift from my shoulders 
the care of the body of men at Cape Flora whose stay 
would mean a tax on our resources. 

Autumn is the worst time of the year in which to 
travel. The channels freeze over in thin sheets of 
salt ice that hold the sledge runners like glue, and which 
without warning, break up under influence of the winds 
into impassable currents of churning water and broken 



122 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

ice. The sun disappears below the horizon, and land 
and sea are wrapped in the blackness of Arctic Night. 

Under the hard conditions of sledge work in the fall 
I could only hope to take a small party of chosen men 
with me, and about twenty -five men would be ob- 
liged to remain at Cape Flora for the winter. 

Thanks to the large caches of the Duke of the Ab- 
ruzzi and Jackson, in addition to our own supplies and 
the game, there was sufficient food at Cape Flora for 
the party remaining there during the winter. 

The two ponies left over from the slaughter of spring, 
were shot for food, and thousands of pounds of walrus 
meat were hauled to the camp from the caches that 
had been made along the shore and placed out of reach 
of the dogs, to augment the winter supply of meat and 
blubber. 

During the summer the party had secured seventeen 
bears, sixteen walruses, eight brant, about 250 birds' 
eggs, and about sixteen seals. The large supply of 
fresh meat placed the men in splendid condition phy- 
sically and also prevented the exhaustive use of the 
canned provisions in the caches. I had hopes from 
the experience of Jackson that the party would be 
able to secure bears during the winter. I instructed 
the party, as soon as the sun should reappear in Feb- 
ruary, to send men and sledges to Camp Ziegler on 
Alger Island, about seventy miles distant, to where 
a large supply of provisions had been cached in 
1902. 

The distance from camp Abruzzi (from which place I 
was to make the third start north) to Camp Ziegler was 
about 140 miles, or nearly twice the distance 



THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 123 

intervening between Camp Ziegler and Cape Flora 
where the men were awaiting the Relief Ship. 
Notwithstanding this fact I promised that just as soon 
as my supporting parties should return from accom- 
panying me part of the way north they should carry 
supplies from Camp Abruzzi to Camp Ziegler, and keep 
at it (in the field) all summer until the dissolution of 
the ice rendered sledge work impossible. 

In the meantime the Cape Flora party could work 
continuously at hauling supplies from the Camp 
Ziegler cache to their camp at the Cape. Thus an 
abundance of food was assured. To assist the Cape 
Flora party in the work of hauling supplies I gave 
them about twenty-five dogs. 

Northbrook Island is isolated from the rest of the 
group by DeBruyne Sound, and as long as that water- 
way remained open, it offered a serious obstacle to 
the advance north. The temperature was too 
changeable in early September for me to think of leav- 
ing Cape Flora. 

The canoe and kayaks that I would be obliged to 
take along to insure the safety of my party formed 
such a large part of the total weight we were able to 
carry that not more than twenty days' rations could 
be taken on the sledges for men and dogs, and a delay 
at any point on the march might prove serious. On 
the other hand, there was the fast approaching 
season of darkness and the danger of its overtaking us 
on the way if we delayed our departure too long. The 
men I had chosen to accompany me north could hardly 
wait for a cold snap to lock up the waters, and wished 
for an early start. 



i2 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Mr. Peters was anxious for an early return to his 
scientific work at Camp Abruzzi, and so I instructed 
him to prepare to leave as soon as he thought prac- 
ticable. I gave him two good men, Assistant Engineer 
Vedoe and Seaman Mackiernan, and two fine teams 
of dogs with sledges, a tent, and twenty days' rations. 
For a boat, on his arrival at Camp Point, he intended 
to pick up the canoe he had cached there in August. 
There was a cold snap on the night of the 18th and on 
the morning of the following day Peters and his party 
left for Camp Abruzzi. Those days of September were 
troublesome ones for me. The spirit of the men who 
were to remain at the Cape bent under the disappoint- 
ment. None of the anticipations of success of the 
first winter had been realised; there was no word 
from home; no hope of escape until the cold, six 
months' night had passed — no relief from the deaden- 
ing monotony of camp life. All these things had com- 
bined to discourage them and hard words were often 
used to bewail their sad lot. Almost every assembly 
of men has its Epicureans and its Stoics. There were 
representatives of each class at Cape Flora. 

I learned in those days the saddening truth that a 
large proportion of humanity is governed by fear and 
selfishness and that many a man's actions are inspired 
by the thought of self- aggrandisement rather than by 
the sense of principle or the love of his neighbour. 

The unlettered and uncultured man is coarse in his 
selfishness, while the man of education has learned to 
conceal his baser instincts under a mask of seeming 
modesty and virtue; but in the end it is a toss up as 
to which is the worse. 



THE WAIT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP 125 

On one of those days of reflection and sadness I 
wrote in my diary: 

"Sometimes, I think I would like to write just as I 
feel, but the thought comes to me that in the changing 
atmosphere of Time there is much that would be put 
down in unchanging black and white for which some 
one would suffer later on, whose spirit by that time 
had passed through trials and become chastened and 
humble. So much I could write at times in bitterness 
of spirit, but I know all shall be well and that Time 
shall be the great proofreader and correct the careless 
work and thoughtless haste, and bring harmony out of 
this orchestra at last, though there seem to be a few 
who play as if they had no soul for music." 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 

T7IGHT days after the departure of Peters and his 
■*"^ companions for the north I bade good-bye to 
the men at Cape Flora. Before leaving I placed good, 
faithful Francis Long in charge of the party in the 
Roundhouse and all expedition property, and Captain 
Coffin in charge of the ship's company in "Elmwood." 
I turned over to each house one of the two whaleboats 
for use the following summer in the securing of game, 
and also assigned a team of dogs to each party to be 
employed when the light returned in 1905 in the haul- 
ing of food from Camp Ziegler, 

On the morning of September 27th, accompanied 
by Assistant Scientist Porter, Assistant Surgeon Seitz, 
Steward Spencer, Quartermaster Rilliet, Seaman Duffy, 
and Cabin Boy Dean, I left Camp Jackson on the 
march north to Camp Abruzzi. 

We carried our camping equipment and seventeen 
days' food for men and dogs on four sledges drawn by 
thirty-two dogs. A canoe was also carried and two 
canvas kayaks. We arrived at Camp Point, the north- 
ern extremity of Northbrook Island, the same evening 
and camped in the darkness. A heavy storm from 
the southwest arose at night and continued through 
the following day. The wind was so violent that we 

were obliged to take the pole out of the tent and tie 

126 



THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 127 

the collapsed fabric together in a great knot to pre- 
vent its being torn to pieces. We spent an uncom- 
fortable time in the restricted space in our sleeping 
bags, the drifting snow walling us in. 

At Camp Point a message was found from Mr. Peters 
stating that he had been delayed by the impassable 
condition of the channel, but that he had left to cross 
DeBruyne Sound the morning of the 27th, the day 
we arrived at the Point. The storm gave me reason 
to be anxious for his safety. DeBruyne Sound had 
been opened in a number of places by the high wind 
of the 28th. On the morning of the 29th, we at- 
tempted to cross the sound but were forced to return 
to land by a wide stream of broken ice and mush in 
a rapid current — impassable either by boats or sledges. 

Two other attempts were made to cross the sound, 
one on September 30th, the other on October nth, 
but we were obliged to return both times to Camp 
Point. Each attempt to cross was followed by a rise 
in temperature and high southerly winds, accom- 
panied by the breaking up of the ice and the opening 
of the Sound. 

As the days passed by our food stores dwindled, 
and the poor dogs chained out in the snow gave vent 
to their craving for food in long drawn howls. 

We built two little igloos of snow blocks in the side 
of the glacier. They were connected by a passage 
and for a time all of us lived together in the "Tombs," 
as the igloos were called, but later the Steward and I 
preferred to live in the tent, considering our chances to 
be better there in an outlook for game. On Sunday, 
October 9th, we held a service in the " Tombs " where 



128 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

I read from the Sixth Chapter of Matthew the words 
which at the time seemed to be particularly suited to 
us: "Take no thought of the morrow, of what ye 
shall eat or drink." 

The Steward and I had just returned to our tent when, 
sitting together in the cold, I expressed the wish for 
a bear, as it would mean food and fuel. At that moment 
a quick, short bark sounded outside, followed by a 
chorus of savage, frantic yelps from all our chained 
canines. Looking through the flap of the tent, the 
Steward exclaimed, "A bear! A bear!" We both 
ran out to behold a bear making up the glacier. Our 
best bear dog, Little Wyckoff , was loose and worried 
Bruin by biting his heels, so delaying the beast that 
I was enabled to get within about 150 yards. With an 
anxiety that cannot be expressed, I fired, bringing 
down the animal. He was sledged in triumph to the 
"Tombs," and that day, and many days after, we had 
the luxury of fried bear steak. Our hungry dogs, too, 
got a full meal of fresh meat. As the bear was very 
fat, all the blubber was carefully cut and preserved 
for cooking fuel. 

To wait often takes more courage, more effort of 
soul, than to perform. As the days went by and the 
period of light shortened some of my good comrades 
became restless. The active, little Steward would 
look over toward Hooker Island and wistfully say, 
"If we were only there! All our troubles would be 
over, for then we could proceed easily over the frozen 
channels to Camp Ziegler and from there to Teplitz 
Bay. This awful channel! This horrible island! " 

As I looked at the dark water clouds hanging over 



THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 129 

the glacier on that island which indicated to me that 
the channels beyond were open, I was filled with 
anxiety for the safety of Mr. Peters and his party and 
for our own escape. 

The sun was rapidly sinking. After considering 
the rough and treacherous character of the ice in De- 
Bruyne Sound, I realised the impossibility of crossing 
the wide channel in one march, and saw that at least 
one of the long October nights would have to be spent 
on the ice in the sound. With every storm, the ice 
would break up and drift, and as storms came often 
and without warning we would have to be prepared 
to take to the boats in an emergency. The frail kayaks 
could not be depended upon in the current of the chan- 
nel when it was filled with grinding ice fragments. 
The canoe alone was deemed reliable. But as the 
canoe was not large enough to hold the entire party, 
I determined to send two members back to Cape Flora 
with one sledge to obtain a supply of provisions suf- 
ficient for us to reach Camp Ziegler where we could 
replenish. The poor dogs had been living on quarter 
and half rations, but for them I could ask no food, 
their salvation depending upon our reaching Camp 
Ziegler in time, for I did not intend to return to Cape 
Flora no matter what came. 

On the 17 th Mr. Porter expressed his willingness 
to return to Cape Flora with one man to stay there 
through the winter. On the return of the light in 
the following spring (1905) he would make a sledge 
trip to Camp Abruzzi to accompany me on my final 
march north. 

So I gave him instructions to return to Cape Flora, 



i 3 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

placing him as Third in Command of the expedition 
and in charge of the party at Cape Flora and in com- 
mand of the whole expedition should I and Mr. Peters, 
my Second in Command, both be lost. I detailed 
Jimmy Dean, our cabin boy, to accompany him. 
Jimmy almost wept in his disappointment. He wanted 
to stay with my party and share our adventures in the 
march north. I gave Mr. Porter five of our best dogs, 
a sledge, and a kayak and he and Jimmy set out for 
Cape Flora. They were accompanied by Steward 
Spencer and Seaman Duffy, with a dog team and 
sledge, who were to return to me with a small supply 
of food. 

On the 17 th the temperature was 31 degrees F. 
above zero, five degrees above the freezing point of 
sea water. The Sound was filled with an impassable 
mass of ice fragments grinding their way in a rapid 
current out to sea. The roofs of our igloos had been 
dripping during the long siege of abnormally high 
temperature and we were obliged to prop them up to 
prevent their caving in. Our sleeping bags were 
soaked with water. It looked as if the cold weather 
would never come, and as if we would be imprisoned 
by darkness without an opportunity to cross the 
eighteen miles that separated us from Hooker Island. 
But after Porter's departure the column of the ther- 
mometer slowly dropped until on the night of the 
21st it reached one degree below zero. 

Spencer and Duffy returned on the 21st, and on the 
2 2d, the day the sun disappeared for the winter, we 
made our fourth attempt to cross the channel. 

The party comprised Asst. Surgeon Seitz, Quarter- 



THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 131 

master Rilliet, Steward Spencer, and Seaman Duffy 
with three dog teams of nine dogs each and three 
sledges, a canoe, and a two-man kayak. 

We left land at nine o'clock in the morning in a very 
dim twilight and made our way over much rough ice. 
I directed the path of the column toward the north 
as I noted that there was a pressure on the ice fields 
from that direction and reasoned that the ice would 
jam in the narrow part of the sound between Old 
Depot on Hooker Island and Camp Point on North- 
brook Island, but would open into lanes and drift sea- 
ward south of these two points. So instead of direct- 
ing our way in as nearly straight a line as we could, 
across the Sound to Old Depot (our objective), our 
trail curved up the channel, above the danger zone of 
opening leads, and fast moving fields. We crossed 
one open lead by means of canoe and kayak at the cost 
of an hour and one dog. While picking a path through 
moving ice cakes, I climbed to the top of a small pres- 
sure ridge which suddenly gave way beneath me. I was 
in the water some minutes surrounded by a muddle 
of small ice fragments which prevented my reaching 
the heavy floe before my absence was noted. Then I 
had the rather unpleasant experience of disrobing on 
an ice cake to put on a complete change of dry clothing. 
Fortunately the temperature was not low — only 4 
degrees below zero! 

After crossing much broken ice, mixed with rubble 
and thin sheets, we reached a large old cake that seemed 
to be fixed. As it was difficult to see ahead in the 
gathering darkness, and being uncertain of reaching 
another large cake before night, I gave orders to en- 



1 32 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

camp. The following day we reached Old Depot on 
Hooker Island, crossing rough places and wide stretches 
of young salt ice just thick enough to bear the men 
and sledges, the moving caravan causing the thin 
stratum to roll in waves and move under the feet like 
jelly, one sledge — the one bearing the heavy canoe — 
breaking partially through. We helped the dogs drag 
the heavy sledges up the slope of the glacier on Hooker 
Island to a level spot near some protruding rocks, and 
then turned our eyes toward DeBruyne Sound. In 
the gloom we could see great black stretches of water 
in which floated dark looking masses of ice, and open 
lanes steaming in the cold air. The rising moon il- 
luminated the scene and intensified the gloom of the 
shadowy Stygian expanse. Our hearts beat thank- 
fully in the realisation that we had crossed just in 
time, and that after the long wait of twenty-six days 
we were able at last to proceed. 

Storms and rolling clouds of the past were forgotten 
as, above the massed vapours of the waters, we hap- 
pily raised our tents, a full moon giving us light, and 
revealing in glittering splendour the mountainous 
glacier above us, whose cold, high crest was to be our 
next battlefield. 

Dr. Seitz, Rilliet, and Duffy occupied one tent and 
Steward Spencer and myself the other. While we 
cooked our evening meal above the hum of the blaz- 
ing khotals in both tents, I could hear Duffy sing- 
ing and catch snatches of the animated conver- 
sation of the others, denoting their happy condition. 
In our own little tepee Spencer fairly beamed with 
happiness, and talked enthusiastically of next year's 



THE START FOR CAMP ABRUZZI 133 

opportunities north, expressing the hope that we 
would break the record. Camp Abruzzi seemed near 
to us that night and Camp Ziegler only a short way off. 

The temperature dropped to 12 degrees below zero 
while we slept and, in the gloom of the returning twi- 
light of another day, it was cold work harnessing dogs 
and breaking camp. But we were glad that the tem- 
perature was low for it meant as a rule good weather 
and a long march. 

Before leaving me at Camp Point, Porter had told 
me that on his spring trip he had been obliged to cross 
the Hooker Island glacier — that he had found a high 
glacier face on the north shore of the island and that 
there was only one little place where it was possible 
for a sledge to leave the island with safety. Rilliet 
had accompanied Porter on his trip and stated to me 
that he knew the trail across the ice-capped island and 
the place of descent mentioned by Porter where the 
glacier sloped down to the level of Young Sound. 

So I asked Rilliet to act as guide while I helped 
Duffy with his heavily loaded sledge in our long haul 
up the slope. After surmounting the dome, over 1 ,400 
feet high, we made a rapid descent down a steep de- 
clivity at the bottom of which our guide expected to 
find a short cut to the sea level. But distances are 
deceptive on a glacier and five hours were spent in a 
reconnoitre, which was made possible by moonlight. 
We were stormbound the following day. The tem- 
perature rose to 6 degrees above zero, dropping to 19 
below on the morning of the 26th. This colder weather 
generally meant a respite from the howling winds. 
It calmed near noon and we lashed our icy tents and 



i 3 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

sleeping bags and stirred up the protesting dogs from 
the holes they had dug in the snow drifts, and put on 
their stiff harness. We could not afford to feed them 
the night before, but they seemed to have accepted 
the situation stoically. Poor things! they may have 
wondered but could not know what it meant — this 
continual hauling and suffering. Despite their snarl- 
ing and fighting they were hard workers and faithful 
helpers, and I often thought we did not appreciate 
their worth as we should. 

There was a haze in the air that obscured vision. 
Under foot, fortunately, the wind had packed the deep 
snow so that the sledges did not haul as badly as we 
expected. I did not like the looks of the glacier and 
suggested to Rilliet that we rope together and go ahead, 
thinking particularly of his safety as he was to be the 
guide. He told me the precaution was unnecessary 
as he had gone all over the place and did not believe 
there were any crevasses in it. 





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CHAPTER XVIII 

"he brought me up also out of an hor- 
rible pit." — Psalms 

■\I7E HAD travelled on the glaciers so often that 
we had grown free of care in regard to the hid- 
den danger of crevasses. These deep chasms were 
arched over by the drifting snows and levelled with the 
surrounding surface of the glacier, and it was impossible 
to detect them. On the Rudolph Island glacier I had 
broken through on three or four different occasions, 
but had always been successful in scrambling out, not 
having fallen deeper than to my armpits. Frequent 
halts delayed our progress. Because of the thick 
weather I often went ahead to assist Rilliet in pick- 
ing out the shadowy nunatucks that guided us toward 
the slope where we wished to go from our present ele- 
vation to Young Sound. 

It was at one of these halts that I walked out ahead 
of the sledges when the snow gave way beneath my 
feet and I hung over a deep crevasse. Steward Spen- 
cer ran from his sledge in an attempt to help me. He 
had but just touched my hand with his fingers when 
I began a frightful descent and knew no more. In the 
semiconscious state which followed, came a chill of hor- 
ror, for I thought I had been buried alive. But return- 
ing memory helped me to realise that I was entombed in 
ice. I found myself wedged between two curves in the 

*3S 



i 3 6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

walls of the crevasse, the convex surfaces near enough 
together to hold me between my breast and back, 
my left arm bent over my breast and jamming having 
prevented me from falling through the neck of the 
funnel. Beneath me was a great black void in which 
I could move my legs without touching the walls, and 
to my right a cavern that made me think of the bot- 
tomless pit. 

The darkness was intense. Away above me shone 
a luminous spot, a faint halo of blue iridescence 
which showed where I had broken through, and a few 
straight pencil-like rays of light penetrated the chasm 
exposing the black surface of the walls of ice and also 
revealing the fact that had I fallen but a little farther 
to the right I would have gone to depths beyond the 
reach of human aid. 

I heard voices calling from above and I answered, 
asking for a rope, and requesting haste, as I thought 
I would slip through. Up to that time I was not aware 
that Spencer was in the chasm. While the rope was 
being lowered, I heard most awful groans beneath me 
in the crevasse. My first thought was that a team of 
dogs had fallen in with me. Soon the noise became 
articulate speech, and I realised with horror that 
another man was in that prison, and like myself was 
wedged in between walls of ice. It was the Steward 
who in trying to save me had fallen in too. I could 
not see him in that black pit, but thought that his 
voice, with its awful echoes came from somewhere 
beneath me. He called out, " Commander, are you in 
this place too?" He was lying on his side and felt 
the unspeakable torture of his position and begged me 




Draivn :<y y. Knowlts Hare 



"AT LAST I SAW ABOVE ME THE END OF A ROPE ' 



"OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT" 137 

to save him. "What an awful place to die! " he said 
again and again. 

I told him to trust in God and we would get out, 
but I must confess, at that moment of shock and pain, 
help seemed very far away. 

To add to our discomfort, pieces of ice became 
detached from above and thundered down the abyss, 
the sound reaching us until it was annihilated by the 
awful depth. It need not be told what would have 
happened if either Spencer or myself had been in the 
path of the falling fragments. 

At last I saw above me the end of a rope which 
gradually neared as I shouted directions to those out 
of sight above who were lowering the line, our only 
hope of escape. 

My right arm was free, and at last the precious line 
was in my hand. I painfully made a bowline in the 
end of the rope, the fingers of my left hand being for- 
tunately free. Slipping the noose over my right foot, 
I called to those above to haul away. Soon I was 
swinging like a pendulum in free space. I called to 
them to move the rope to the right and then lower me. 
I swung around in the black chasm and felt the icy 
walls but could not discover the Steward. 

In desperation, as I felt myself growing weaker, I 
called to him, " Look up and try to see me against the 
light above!" He obeyed, saw my suspended form 
and directed my movements. In answer to my shouts 
the men above moved the rope along the edge of the 
crevasse and lowered me to where I could reach the 
Steward, though I could not rescue him on account of 
a projection of ice that interfered. But I could pass 



i 3 8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

him a foot and a hand, and lift him from his prone 
position, and help him to stand on the cake of ice that 
had broken off when he fell and had jammed, saving 
himfrom death. Unable to give the Steward further help, 
I told him it would be best for the men to haul me up 
and send the rope down for him. He agreed and I was 
drawn to the surface — just in time, as I fainted on reach- 
ing the top. The Steward was hauled up next. A tent 
was erected and within its shelter Doctor Seitz examin- 
ed us. No bones were broken, but a cut in the Steward's 
face required several stitches. We were helped into 
our sleeping bags as the temperature had fallen to 27 
degrees below zero. 

On measuring the rope Seaman Duffy found we had 
fallen into the crevasse to the depth of seventy feet. 
It was a providential escape. If we had fallen but a 
little to either side where the crevasse widened, we 
would have descended beyond the reach of help. 

While swinging in the dense darkness of that sheol 
like abyss, a thin line only held me to life — a cotton 
cord with braided covering, only three-eighths of an 
inch in diameter! I thought of a place on that same 
line where, only that morning, I had noticed, while 
lashing a sledge load, that all the inner fibres had 
parted. 

It was a dangerous but concealed break, and at the 
time I mentally resolved to have it cut out and the 
line spliced at our next camp. 

"Had the break been noticed!" The horror of the 
question troubled me. 

In a conversation with Duffy after the accident I 
learned that he had gone over every inch of the rope, 



"OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT" 139 

and that the weak spot had been discovered — and 
the rope repaired. 

The Steward suffered all night, and indeed there was 
little sleep for either of us. The other members of the 
party had worked hard to save us and despite our 
pains we were a happy party. 

Camp was established near the crevasse, and the 
following morning the Steward, still in his sleeping bag, 
was lashed to his sledge. We then left the glacier 
descending to the level of the Sound. At every halt 
Spencer would call to me and ask if we were still on 
the glacier, and how long before we would reach the 
channel ice. Poor fellow! he had had enough of the 
glacier and preferred the known perils of the sea to the 
unknown dangers that lurked in the hidden depths 
of the mountain of ice. 

On the last slope of the glacial ice, just before it 
joins the salt waters of the sound, we were electrified 
by the discovery of sledge tracks which made us hope 
for the safety of Peters and his party. The surface of the 
Sound, a chaotic mixture of ice boulders of all sizes, 
mixed brash, and thin salt ice just thick enough to bear 
our sledge runners, offered anything but good travel- 
ling. We broke through in places and were all troubled 
with water soaked footwear before the day's work was 
over. 

Duffy was the strongest man in the party, so I gave 
him the Steward's sledge, knowing that the warm- 
hearted sailor would save Spencer many a bump on 
the ice, and I took Duffy's sledge and his well trained 
team of dogs. I tried at first to lead the party through 
the bad ice but found that I was still suffering from 



140 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the effects of the fall in the crevasse the day before, 
and had difficulty in seeing ahead, often falling over 
ice cakes, and deviating from the correct course. So 
I asked Rilliet, as he did not have a team or sledge, to 
act as guide again, while I took the rear of the column. 
I shall never forget that day's march! The sledge 
with its heavy load of canoe, tent, equipment, and 
stores was often overturned on the rough road and it 
took every ounce of strength I possessed to lift it back 
on to its runners, the chief strain coming on my chest 
which had been bruised by the jamming between the 
ice walls of the crevasse, giving me the impression that 
my ribs were broken. 

Our course was toward Cape Beresford, about thirty 
miles away, which point we reached after two days 
of travel over a hard trail of rough ice and deep snow, 
alternating with stretches of young ice covered with 
a wet salty efflorescence that held our sledge runners 
fast. We were also troubled with fog and mist. 

Early on the morning of the 29th (October) the air 
cleared with a temperature of 23 degrees below zero, 
and the waning moon lit up the towering glaciers and 
frozen channels. The pain in my chest kept me awake 
and I lay watching the curious effect of the moonlight 
shining on the silk of the tent, and talking to the Stew- 
ard at times, for he too slept but little. At half -past 
three, I heard Duffy, always an early riser, outside 
discoursing on the beauty of the scene. I called out 
to the men to get ready to move. The order was 
obeyed with alacrity. Before long the khotals were 
singing merrily, melting the ice for our breakfast of 
tea and stew. With the moon for our only illuminant, 



"OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT" 141 

we left the Cape and made good time over a compara- 
tively smooth course, reaching the West Camp on Alger 
Island an hour after noon, the twilight allowing us to 
see our way when the moon left us. This place was 
the site of Baldwin's first station in 1901, and he had 
placed there coal and provisions. 

We found traces of Peters's party in the sledge marks 
crossing the tide crack and saw their canoe carefully 
cached, and a fresh trail leading in the direction of 
Camp Ziegler. We hurriedly set up a tent into which 
the Steward was carried and while I made tea for the 
party the men dug out of the snow two barrels of coal 
and a case of emergency rations, and put them on a 
sledge in place of the canoe which we cached along- 
side the one we found there. 

I knew that there were provisions in the two houses 
at Camp Ziegler, but was not sure that we would find 
coal there and so provided for that contingency. The 
canoe I did not expect to use in continuing my march 
north, for it was then the last of October and I trusted 
that the temperature would remain low and that the 
channels would be frozen between Alger Island and 
Teplitz Bay. 

It was seven days since the sun dropped below the 
horizon for the winter, and the periods of twilight were 
daily growing shorter. At 3.15 p. m., when we left 
West Camp, the gloom of night was upon us, clouds 
helping to darken the air. But our dogs smelling the 
fresh tracks in the snow were all excitement and fol- 
lowed the trail at a rapid trot. We passed over the 
six miles that separated us from Baldwin's old head- 
quarters in less than an hour and a half reaching the 



i 4 2 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

huts in the darkness. Our arrival was heralded by a 
number of dogs that came out in the gloom, and greeted 
us and our teams with joyful yelps. We could just 
distinguish a heap of snow out of which protruded the 
tops of the houses and a chimney from which a cheerful 
smoke was escaping. Through a hole in the snow, a 
dim light was shining and against it stood the form of 
Mr. Peters. We shook hands, and, after our sledges 
were arranged and the dogs set free from their harness, 
we went down into the warm interior where I was glad 
to see Vedoe and Mackiernan. Mr. Peters told me 
that he had been delayed on Hooker Island by open 
water in Young Sound and had arrived at Camp Ziegler 
only four days before. He gave an account of a narrow 
escape from being carried to sea on the ice in DeBruyne 
Sound, drifting in the storm from near Eaton Island 
to a point near Old Depot, and escaping with his party 
and equipment by a rush over moving ice to Hooker 
Island. He was preparing to winter at Camp Ziegler 
as Seaman Mackiernan had several toes on both feet 
frost bitten and could not travel. 

That night the wind howled and for five days the 
storm kept us fast indoors. We utilised the time in 
thawing and drying out our sleeping bags and tents 
and clothing, and in preparing for the march to Camp 
Abruzzi. There was not any pemmican at Camp 
Ziegler that we could use for dog food, but we found 
some tallow which we melted and mixed while hot with 
emergency ration (U. S. Army ration of cracked wheat 
and beef). We poured the mass into pans and when 
it was cool, cut it into one pound blocks. The mixture 
made a very good ration and the dogs liked it. Dr. 




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"OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT" 143 

Seitz reporting to me that there was no danger to be 
apprehended in regard to Mackiernan's frost-bitten 
toes, though he would be unable to travel and needed 
rest, and Spencer having recovered from the effects 
of the fall into the crevasse sufficiently to march with 
us north, I requested Rilliet and Mackiernan to re- 
main in Camp Ziegler for the winter — placing the for- 
mer in charge of the station — and provided the two 
men with a team of five dogs, rifle, and a shotgun. 
Ammunition and food in plenty were stored at Camp 
Ziegler. 

I told Rilliet to spend the winter in digging out all 
the provisions he could find, so that when the party 
came from Cape Flora in the early spring they could 
load their sledges without trouble, and also instructed 
him to clean out both houses and make them habit- 
able. On the arrival of the men from Cape Flora he 
was to let them have one of the houses as a comfort- 
able place in which to rest after their journey and in 
which to dry out their sleeping bags and clothing. 
But no unnecessary time was to be spent in the house 
during the good sledging season, for it would require 
continuous effort to transport the provisions required 
to Cape Flora. 

I instructed him to help Mr. Porter on his way north, 
when he arrived, in every way possible. I also told 
him that in the spring and summer I would send down 
provisions from the north, and that Camp Ziegler 
would be the station at which the members of the Camp 
Abruzzi party would await the Relief Ship in 1905. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THROUGH DARKNESS AND ICE TO CAMP ABRUZZI 

YI7'E WERE stormbound at Camp Ziegler until 
November 5 th. It was the worst time of the 
year to travel and the trip was one that none of us who 
took part in it will ever forget. The party was com- 
posed of six men, Peters, Vedoe, Seitz, Spencer, Duffy, 
and myself. We had four dog teams and sledges 
and one kayak. The channels seemed at last to be 
firmly frozen and I left the two heavy canoes behind, 
as we would have to travel fast, for the periods 
of twilight were very short and each day there was 
less light. 

We camped the first night at Cape Trieste and then 
directed our way toward Kane Lodge on Greely 
Island. It was almost midway between Camp Ziegler 
and our destination, and we looked forward to it as 
a sort of "half-way house" and a shelter from the 
dark, windy autumn days. 

While nearing Weiner Neustadt Island, a little after 

noon on November 6th, we were treated to a diversion 

that we hardly expected. Grey, one of our dogs, who 

had got loose and was running far enough ahead to be 

out of catching distance, stirred up a bear. There was 

charge and counter charge between them, the bear 

chasing " Grey " to within a few feet of the leading team. 

The harnessed canines were almost ungovernable 

144 



THROUGH DARKNESS AND ICE 145 

in their desire to participate in the fray and, indeed, 
several of the teams.did help in the chase which drove 
the bear to the top of a ridge. From that safe vantage 
point he tantalised the teams until it was next to 
impossible to hold them in a line. Every dog in the 
column undoubtedly believed that it would be consider- 
ably more fun to follow up the chase than to haul the 
heavy loads. But at last, to save the loads and prevent 
complete demoralisation, I fired a shot and frightened 
the bear away. We could not spare the time to kill 
and skin him and, as I have mentioned before, I ob- 
jected to the unnecessary slaughter of game. 

As we neared the entrance of Collinson Channel I 
anxiously watched ahead for the dark clouds that de- 
noted the presence of water. In March and April of 
1902, on the previous expedition, we had seen there 
a great open hole of water, the rapid current from 
Rhodes Channel joining with the great water of 
Austria Sound and keeping the place open in the cold- 
est time of the year. 

In May 1902 the water hole was so large that on 
account of it the sledge column was obliged to cross 
a steep spur of the glacier on Weiner Neustadt Island, 
and I had reason to fear trouble. On arriving there, 
as expected, we found the place open — a great steaming 
black void sending up columns of dark vapour in the 
cold air. We rounded its fearsome edge, like the en- 
trance to Inferno, in an almost lightless night, our sled 
runners only a few yards from the water, and gained 
the solid ice of Collinson Channel, camping that night 
on land far from the uncertain crystal covering of the 
sea. On November 7 th we reached the shelter of 



146 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Kane Lodge where we found some pemmican to aug- 
ment our supply of dog food, and where the hearts of 
my comrades were made glad by the discovery of a 
bag of tobacco. On leaving Kane Lodge our troubles 
increased on account of water holes, rough ice, and the 
darkness. Among those islands the scenery was a 
strange medley of uncertain shadows in a ghostly group- 
ing. The high hills in their icy coats cut sharp enough 
in dark purple relief against the dim yellow of the 
southern sky; black water pools sent up columns of 
slowly rising vapour that stratified into streaky still 
clouds against the background of shadows, the whole 
looking like a Dore conception of the regions of pur- 
gatory. As the twilight passed into the gloom of 
approaching night the scene took on the frightful 
aspect of Dante's idea of the lowest circle of hell — a 
hell of ice. 

West of Kane Lodge our progress north was barred 
by a large, open, inky lake whose farther shore was 
lost in clouds of steam. Upon its bosom floated ghostly 
icebergs whose crests were lost in the darkness and 
mist. On one side the high face of the glacier on 
Greely Island forbade advance; the other shore was 
locked by a wall of precipitous rock. We retraced 
our steps and rounded the southern end of an island 
in the channel that we called "Coal Mine Island" 
on account of the find Porter made there the previous 
spring. We passed another large and dark body of 
water on a narrow thin ice foot just wide enough for 
our teams and sledge-runners, passing the point of the 
island where the waters washed the steep shore on a rock- 
ing bridge of ice that fortunately happened to be there. 



THROUGH DARKNESS AND ICE 147 

On November 9th we camped at the northern ex- 
tremity of Kuhn Island and the next day, after a short 
march, reached Stoliczka Island. From there to 
Rainer Island was a distance of about 18 miles, over 
a wide sound connecting with the Victoria Sea by 
Back Channel, There was danger of finding the Sound 
open, washed by the seas from the Channel. We could 
see only a few yards ahead for in addition to the dark- 
ness a mist covered the face of the ice — the vapour 
itself an indication of some nearby body of water. As 
it was nearly eleven o'clock in the morning we could 
expect only about two hours more of very poor twi- 
light and under the best conditions of ice could not 
hope to reach Rainer Island that day. We would have 
to camp on young autumn ice that a storm might 
destroy. 

I discussed the situation with the men and said if 
they were willing to take the risk of camping on the 
uncertain Sound we would go on; if not, we would 
camp on Stoliczka Island until the following day when 
a clearer air might allow us to choose a smooth trail. 
Doctor Seitz stated that they all wished to go ahead 
and take chances, Mr. Peters adding that if we met 
rough ice we could return. 

We then took to the ice like so many shadows, feel- 
ing our way through a maze of pressure ridges, the 
absence of light making our advance a march of faith. 
Mr. Peters and I went ahead and a few feet behind us 
came the dog teams and their drivers in Indian file. 
Time and time again men and dogs would fall into 
crevices between the massive blocks, and sledges were 
overturned on obstructions that could not be seen. 



i 4 8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

The darkness was so impenetrable that we who were 
in the lead would stumble over monster blocks of ice 
and into holes and actually walk into icebergs without 
seeing them. We felt our way with long poles and 
travelled by compass. Sometimes we came to places 
where the floor loomed up black and forbidding, and 
the horror of the thought of the open sea troubled us, 
but on touching the surface with our poles we found it 
to be young ice but heavy enough to bear the caravan. 
We made good time over these recently frozen level 
openings though the men had hard hauling in assisting 
the dogs to drag the sleds over the sticky surface. 

For three days we forced our way across that awful 
space. Peters went ahead to lay the course at times, 
and I followed with an ice axe at the head of the dog 
teams trying to avoid the worst places. Trying to 
lead the column away from the holes that Peters fell 
into I often tumbled into worse ones myself with a 
dog team to keep me company. We were like two 
blind men groping their way. We fell continually. 
The cursing of the dog drivers, the howling of the dogs, 
and the darkness — the awful darkness! made the 
journey like a passage through the regions of torment. 
Viewed through the lapse of time what was then a 
horrible reality seems like a wild, bad dream. On 
crossing two particularly high pressure ridges, that 
I had hoped marked the shores of Rainer Island, we 
struck better ice but then the wind which had not 
ceased to blow from the east increased its force and 
we were obliged to camp. During the night the east 
wind subsided and a light breeze came down from the 
north, and our weather indicator, the thermometer, 



THROUGH DARKNESS AND ICE 149 

prophesied fair weather by dropping to 22 degrees 
below zero. Sunday, November 13th, dawned beau- 
tiful, the clear light from a starry sky revealing the 
fact that we were in the channel between Rainer and 
Alexander Islands. 

We reached Houen Island that day and on the next 
camped on Hohenlohe Island where we were storm- 
bound five days with temperatures ranging from 23 
above (7 a. m. Nov. 15) to 26 degrees below zero 
(8 p. m. Nov. 19) and a driving wind that seemed to 
penetrate the fabric of our tents. 

The condensation, the drifting snow, and the varying 
temperature had played havoc with our sleeping bags, 
clothing, and tents. Everything was either water 
soaked or frozen, the warmth of our bodies thawing 
pools of water in our sleeping bags which did not con- 
duce to comfort as the temperature dropped. Dur- 
ing a lull in the storm, while breakfast was being pre- 
pared and the hum of the cookers gave a certain sense 
of cheerfulness, we heard Duffy singing in the other 
tent, " Shure Oive found McCarty's whiskers in the 
stew! " It raised a laugh all around for at that moment 
we were engaged in removing from our coffee and stew 
the deer hairs from our worn sleeping bags. 

While the storm kept us prisoners in our sleeping 
bags the last glow of faint twilight at noon left us and 
we were in total darkness. Our salvation depended 
upon the moon which appeared when the storm ceased 
on the evening of November 19th. In her light we 
folded our tents and lashed the loads on our sledges, 
the dogs wagging their tails as anxious as we were to 
march again. During that November advance, as 



i 5 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

we were nearing Rudolph Island, we saw a light north 
of us, just above the level of the snow, burning in 
brilliant red, then flaming into yellow. It was 
Jupiter — the planet whose light I had watched year 
after year; the planet I thought I knew better than 
any of the glittering lights that move in the firmament. 

We cut our way through great ridges of ice at Cape 
Brorak to Rudolph Island whose glacier we crossed 
in a misty moonlight, reaching the hut at Camp Abruzzi 
at 3.10 o'clock Sunday morning, November 20th, 
a ship's light that was kept burning on the roof of the 
house in hopes of our return guiding us down the 
steep descent from the glacier. 

Our advent caused great excitement among the dogs 
at camp. Like ground scouts of an advancing cavalry 
attack, they came rushing up the side of the glacier, 
barking and yelping with joy, for they recognised their 
old comrades in harness, who seemed as wild with de- 
light as themselves. 

Seaman Meyer met me outside and then came Stewart 
and Tessem and Perry and lastly Engineer Hartt. 
We found the party all in good health but without 
Fireman Myhre of whose death I have already spoken. 




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OUR LAST BATTLES WITH THE 
POLAR ICE 



1904 — 1905 



Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, 
who hath gendered it ? 

The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is 
frozen. 

Job. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE POLAR NIGHT OF 1905 

TT SEEMED very cozy in the hut after our fifty- 
four days on the trail. Carpenter Tessem pre- 
pared a breakfast of hot waffles and cornmeal mush 
with delicious coffee. It was good to sit at the table 
with my united band of happy men and to hear the 
good news that there was an abundance of everything 
needful. 

They told me that the past summer had been a 
wonderfully warm one at camp, and the whole of Tep- 
litz Bay had cleared of ice. The snow had melted off 
the rocks and around the Duke's tent, making it pos- 
sible to find tools, etc., lost during the previous season, 
also uncovering a mass of coal left by the Italian. The 
melting was accelerated by the industry of the small 
body of men who directed streams of water through 
the frozen caches, and cleared the camp site by hy- 
draulic means. 

The coal and stores had been put under cover and 
thoughtful provision made for the winter. 

While at the table we heard the story of the long 
wait of Meyer and Perry at Hohenlohe Island, of how 
they camped there and kept a lamp burning from Octo- 
ber 5th to November ist, watching for our arrival in 
the hope that they would be able to succor us, and 
also of their attempt to reach Kane Lodge from the 

153 



i54 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

north — futile because of an open sea south of Hohenloh 
Island. 

Mr. Hartt recited his experiences while trying to 
reach Cape Flora where he hoped to be of assistance to 
me. On July 19th, accompanied by Seaman Perry, 
he set out in a steam launch he had constructed. 
While in the British Channel he almost lost the boat 
and had to throw the boiler overboard to save the 
launch. This accident necessitated their return, and 
on August 1 8th they reached the place from which 
they had started a month before. 

Assistant Commissary Stewart, Carpenter Tessem, 
and Seaman Meyer were the last men at the post, and 
they laboured hard hauling the coal and supplies and 
preparing the house and shelters, including the great 
stock tent in which the bags of clothing and equip- 
ment were stored. 

After our arrival at Camp Abruzzi the party was. 
allowed about a week's rest. Then work was started 
for the contemplated sledge journey in the early spring 
of 1905. 

November 24th we celebrated as Thanksgiving Day 
with a true feeling of gratefulness. Instead of the 
time-honoured turkey we were treated to a ptarmigan 
fricassee by our capable Steward. Four of these birds 
had been shot at camp during the previous summer 
and saved for this special occasion. 

The smallness of my party, the lack of ponies, and 
the few dogs at my command, together with the neces- 
sity of providing a number of dogs to be used by my 
Camp Abruzzi party in transporting food supplies to 
Camp Ziegler, rendered it impossible for me to arrange 




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BUSY DAYS IN THE WORKSHOP AT CAMP ABRUZZI 
Preparing for the last struggle to reach the pole 



THE POLAR NIGHT OF 1905 155 

for supporting parties to accompany me except for 
a short distance from land. 

After much thought I decided to leave early in 
March 1905, with one companion and three dog teams 
and sledges in an effort to reach the Pole, a supporting 
column of three small detachments to accompany me. 

The first support included two men and was to have 
a lightly loaded sledge drawn by such dogs as were 
left after the other teams were chosen, and was to go 
only one day forward. 

The Second Support of two men and one dog team and 
sledge was to return two days later, while the Third Sup- 
port, comprising four men, two dog teams, and sledges, 
was to accompany me seven days' march north. 

I made plans for a light canoe for two men to be 
constructed at camp. Six sledges needed strengthening — 
the lignum vitas under- runners which caused us trouble 
in 1904 were taken off and hickory substituted. The 
dog harness required repairing, picket lines for dogs 
were manufactured from light steel rope, and tents 
were constructed on an improved model providing 
a low wall and an adjustable opening at the top to allow 
the exit of vapour generated by cooking. 

With such a small party it would be impracticable 
to carry the extra cook tent, so four little cookers were 
manufactured, one for each tent. The kayaks demanded 
repairing and painting and more pork and bean biscuit 
had to be baked. In addition, the men had their 
sleeping bags to repair and their personal equipment 
and clothing to make ready. The faithful and efficient 
work done by the small party at Camp Abruzzi during 
my absence in placing stores, coal, and supplies under 



156 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

cover and in putting the storage tent and warehouses 
in repair, relieved the party of much outdoor work 
during the winter of 1904-05 and allowed opportunity 
for recreation — as well as for preparation for the sledge 
trip. 

The days of the winter were among the pleasantest 
experienced on the expedition. The party was con- 
genial and the hut warm and comfortable. We were 
all very busy. It was pleasant to hear the whirl of 
the lathe and the sound of hammering in our little 
shop, interspersed at times with the singing of the men. 

After the evening meal, in the periods of moonlight, 
in parties of twos and threes we would walk over to- 
ward Cape Saulen and view from its height the vast 
expanse of water or dark young ice to the west and 
northwest, the rapid changes in temperature and the 
numerous storms keeping the sea open. The dogs 
seemed anxious for human companionship and ac- 
companied us on these walks — a noisy, romping, mis- 
chievous crew. 

During the storms, which were many, and when the 
clouds obscured the feeble light of the stars and abso- 
lute darkness kept us imprisoned, the men made use 
of the excellent library after the hours of labour, and 
played chess or cards — usually listening at the same 
time to the strains of music from a Regina music box 
or a phonograph. After December 21st we were glad 
with the thought that the sun had turned in its journey 
away from us and that each day brought us nearer to 
the time when we should see his face again — -when 
light would take the place of darkness and the winter 
of night would be over. 



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THE POLAR NIGHT OF 1905 157 

Christmas time was celebrated as the year before 
by a banquet at which Polar bear steak was the " piece 
de resistance" and a special edition of the Arctic 
Eagle was printed. 

Before leaving Tromso in 1903 I had received a 
daily calendar from home upon the leaves of which 
friends had written greetings and thoughts, each leaf 
a message. The calendar ended in September 1904, 
but I had carefully preserved the leaves and it was 
doing service for another year. It had always been a 
source of much pleasure to me, but at this holiday 
time its pages were read with more than usual interest. 
In my diary, I wrote: 

" I have been thinking in these days of holiday cheer 
of home and friends, and my heart is full, so full! I 
look over my calendar leaves with their expressions of 
friendship and love and think of those who have writ- 
ten them. Another year before the possibility of an 
opportunity to see once again the home land or the 
faces of those who make it a home land! And I think 

of one What will be her experiences and what 

mine before we meet?" 

From a maximum temperature of 13 degrees above 
zero, reached during a storm on December 13th, the 
temperature fell slowly until on Christmas 'night the 
minimum thermometer registered 53 degrees below zero. 
On the night of January 5th, our weather observer 
at Camp Abruzzi, Mr. Stewart, came into the hut 
from his regular evening observation and excitedly 
asked Mr. Peters and me to go out with him and wit- 
ness the low temperature recorded on the minimum 
thermometer in the instrument shelter. Under the 



i 5 8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

light of Stewart's lantern, we saw that the alcohol 
column with its little glass index had reached the low 
record of 60.2 degrees below zero. It was a beautiful, 
calm night with a faint aurora playing overhead. 
As it was the experience of cold was keen; with a 
wind, it would have been unbearable. We were glad 
to have a warm house to go into. 

We were fortunate in the latter part of December 
and in early January in having a number of periods 
of starlight. Almost every clear cold night the fires 
of aurora played in the sky. A rapidly moving lum- 
inous veil often of many colours through which the 
stars gleamed bright generally started like a little 
cloud of light near the horizon, throwing long streamers 
toward the zenith, the streamers ending in a beautiful 
circle of light, the corona, which quivered directly 
overhead. Other long curves of fire shot over the 
sky toward that part of the horizon directly opposite 
to the side from which the aurora had started. The 
display usually ended in a dull yellow luminous vapour 
near the horizon. 

On the afternoon of January 17 th one of the mem- 
bers came to my room to tell me that he had seen what 
he believed to be a signal on Cape Auk to the south. 
We expected a party from Cape Flora in the early 
spring and we ran out to look, though we wondered 
how a signal could be placed there in the darkness. 
Surely it was a beautiful sight — a flaming red spot 
that changed colour and seemed to move — an effect 
of refraction. I knew it could not be a signal and in- 
stantly thought of Venus, whose coming denoted that 
before long the sun would light our southern sky. While 




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THE POLAR NIGHT OF 1905 159 

we watched the light left the side of the mountain, 
gradually rising and moving eastward. Daily she 
arose becoming more beautiful to the eye, shining with 
dazzling brilliancy. 

In addition to being objects of beauty the stars were 
our dependence for time when the sun was not visible, 
and many long cold hours were spent by Mr. Peters 
at the transit in the astronomical observatory on the 
hill. When the temperature dropped lower than 30 
degrees below zero observing was a trying occupation. 
The small tangent screws could not be managed with 
the fingers in mittens, and to expose the hand to the 
frigid air for only a few seconds was painful. While 
looking through the eye-piece of a transit or a theodolite 
the observer could not breathe with freedom for every 
exhalation had to be directed away from the instru- 
ment or the lenses, divisions, and the verniers would 
become coated with ice. While preparing for the 
spring sledge work I spent much time in the open air 
with a small theodolite and had reason to understand 
the troubles of an observer. 

Cold weather during the Christmas holidays and in 
the early part of January gave me reason to hope for 
a colder spring than that of 1904. During a period 
of moonlight we observed a sheet of smooth young 
ice which gave promise of a good road north. But 
the southeast wind — that ever present wind — de- 
stroyed all visions of an easy path. By January 18th 
the temperature had risen to 10 degrees above zero 
and the howling gales had blown the ice from the 
land and opened the sea. On January 24, 1905, 
I wrote: 



160 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

"The wind is howling without as if pandemonium 
were let loose and the house is shaking under the blast. 
Darkness covers this part of the earth, for the sun is 
still below the horizon. It is near noon, but our only 
illumination is a number of oil lamps that burn day 
and night in a feeble attempt to apologise for the 
absence of His Majesty the Sun. It is true that, 
monthly, Madame Moon has visited us and shed over 
the landscape and ice her luminous rays of cold re- 
flected light. But she has done so only when old 
Boreas has been asleep and he has slept little this 
winter. 

" I have just come in from taking a look outside. 
In the entrance way to our castle I was set upon by 
about twenty dogs, all frantic to show me how pleased 
they were to see me and the light I carried. When 
the elements war without the dogs crowd into the en- 
trance ways and storage tents, curl themselves into fur 
balls as close together as possible, and sleep out the 
periods of storm. But just as soon as the storm is 
over they hold high carnival that generally ends in a 
free-for-all fight, and often in the death of a dog unless 
we are quick to find the murderous creatures and take 
from them the dog that has incurred the antagonism 
of the pack." 

During the period of darkness we lost eight dogs; 
three of them splendid, large animals, Nansen, Toch- 
koff, and Spot, were killed by their companions. The 
other five either wandered off on the young ice and were 
blown away or were killed by the pack at a distance 
from camp. Every dog was known by name. It is 
a curious fact that when one dog has antagonised 
the others the only way to save him from destruction 
later on is to chain him. Then the other dogs let him 
alone. Unfortunately for us the dogs that seemed to 




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THE POLAR NIGHT OF 1905 161 

incur the enmity of their fellows were the large, strong 
animals — the bullies and fighters. There seemed to 
be a degree of justice in their judgments. From close 
observation, I found that the dogs generally forgave 
a bite on the head or body, while an attack on the legs 
seemed to be considered foul play and must be paid for 
by the life of the offending canine — the whole pack 
uniting in his execution. 

On the departure of the party retreating south in 
April, 1904, sixty-six dogs were left at Camp Abruzzi. 
Twenty-three dogs were taken away by Mr. Porter's 
party on May 9, leaving forty- three in camp. Of 
these, eight were lost up to the date of my arrival, 
leaving a total of thirty-five dogs. Of these thirty- 
five, eight were pups born at camp the winter before 
and too young for heavy work. From the twenty- 
seven available dogs remaining two good teams could 
hardly be picked out. Thirty-three dogs were brought 
up by my party from Cape Flora, reaching camp 
November 20th and increased the number of dogs and 
pups to sixty-eight. During the winter, three good 
dogs were killed by the pack and five disappeared, 
reducing the total number to sixty, my dependence 
for the march north. February 20, 1905, I arranged 
the dogs in six teams of nine dogs each, being obliged 
to use some of the pups to make up the required 
number. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE RETURN OF THE SUN 

f\N MARCH 5th I wrote: 

"February has been an awful month for 
storms. There was but one fairly clear day and we 
utilised it to make a sledge trip to Cape Auk, where 
we replaced the meridian mark destroyed by storms 
during the winter. 

"We saw the sun for the first time March the 
first, shining through a veil of fog on the horizon 
to the south. Ever since it has been cloudy and 
stormy. 

" We have been busy loading the sledges for the trip 
North. If it is good weather we may be able to get off 
next week. The loss of all the ponies and the small 
number of dogs limit me considerably. I have de- 
cided to go with one man and three dog teams — a sup- 
port of men and dogs accompanying me only a few 
days as it will be necessary for me to send as many 
dogs as I can back for use of the party — who are to 
transport food to Camp Ziegler. 

"The man I have chosen is a strong obedient sailor, 
Duffy by name, who would rather be on the trail than 
in the house. We will have about ioo days' food for 
ourselves and about fifty days' food for the dogs. 
With the limitations before mentioned I have little 
hope of reaching the Pole and look forward as an 
achievement to breaking the noble Captain Cagni's 
record. Both Duffy and I are determined to do our 
utmost. I intend to use the dogs as long as their food 
lasts. Afterward we will pull the sledges ourselves." 

162 



THE RETURN OF THE SUN 163 

Duffy had accompanied me on the trip in 1904 to 
Cape Barentz and formed one of my party from Cape 
Flora to Camp Abruzzi in the autumn of that year. 
He had also volunteered to return with me from Cape 
Flora in June 1904. 

I arranged for Mr. Peters to accompany me north 
in charge of the third supporting party and on his re- 
turn to camp to remain in command of the expedition 
until my return from the field. A party of men at 
Camp Abruzzi were directed to leave for Camp Ziegler 
after the return of the supporting column and to spend 
the time from the latter part of March to the end of 
June, or until the ice broke up, in sledging supplies 
from Camp Abruzzi and Coburg Island to Kane Lodge 
and from there to Camp Ziegler, to provide food in the 
event of the Relief Ship's not reaching that point in 
the summer of 1905. The teams to be returned to 
camp from the north were to be divided by Mr. Peters 
so as to provide one team of dogs to each two men. 

A trace of twilight in the southern sky at noon glad- 
dened our eyes during the last days of January. Each 
day the light became stronger and stayed with us longer. 
We utilised the twilight of February 15th to make a 
sledge journey to Cape Auk, where we erected a signal 
pole as an azimuth mark for the astronomical obser- 
vatory at camp, the one placed there the year before 
having been destroyed by the storms of winter. We 
fortunately chose the only day in the month free from 
wind or fog.' It was a beautiful period of about six 
hours of twilight. A full moon almost in conjunction 
with the two blazing planets, Jupiter and Venus, helped 
to illuminate the scene and added to the strange, almost 



1 64 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

unearthly beauty of the view revealed to us from the 
summit of the glacier. The afternoon of Sunday the 
12 th of February the weather was clear and for the 
sake of exercise I walked along the high ridge of 
rocks from the astronomical observatory to Cape 
Saulen. In the dim light I could see nothing but great 
sheets of dark coloured young salty ice stretching out 
toward the horizon north and west till it was lost in 
mist. On my return I sighted a bear out on the rough 
ice of Teplitz Bay. With her were what I took to be 
two dogs. 

All three made off toward the thin ice on the edge 
of the bay. Remembering that our Steward had always 
wished for the opportunity of a shot at a bear, and 
just then being in need of fresh meat I ran to camp and 
told Spencer of my find. He had not been feeling 
well and was lying down in his bunk, but he brightened 
up and seized his gun and with Seaman Perry we went 
out accompanied by a pack of dogs. Their barking 
soon announced that the bear was discovered. Climb- 
ing over the ice cakes we found a female bear, with 
two cubs, fighting the dogs. The three of them put up 
a splendid fight and were so mixed up with the dogs 
that it was a difficult task to shoot a bear without in- 
jury to the pack. At last the old bear exposed her 
head in a desperate charge and Spencer fired and killed 
her. Then there was a battle royal between the dogs 
and the cubs. The young bears were quite large 
and active and fought surprisingly well, each engag- 
ing about eight dogs, the centre of a growling, snarling, 
biting, heap. Perry shot one; the other, pursued by 
the pack, charged my way and I was obliged to put a 
bullet through his head. 




A MILE AXD A HALF NORTH IN EIGHT HOURS 



Sketch by Anthony Fin/a 



THE RETURN OF THE SUN 165 

The next day another bear appeared and our dogs 
followed him out in a fog on to the young ice, danger- 
ous because the least wind from the east would break 
it up and open the sea. Darkness descended before 
all of them returned from the hunt. Alarmed for 
their safety I fired a rocket and a number of signal 
lights which on previous occasions had been effective 
in attracting them to camp. The absentees came in 
later, their coating of ice showing that they had been 
in the water. We thawed them out beside the stove, 
after which I instructed the men to chain them up. 
Soon their doleful howls and yelps announced to us 
their dissatisfaction, the young dogs particularly being 
distressed at their loss of freedom. 

As I have stated, February 1905 was noted for the 
number of storms, and the return of the sun brought 
no respite from the high drifting winds that continued 
to blow through the early days of March. The tem- 
perature see-sawed and was often above zero. 

On February 21st a little auk was seen swimming 
in the sea near the edge of the bay ice, and a seal was 
shot. On the same day Tessem, the carpenter, shot a 
seal and the Steward a guillemot. Several days later 
they secured two more seals and three guillemots, while 
Doctor Seitz killed a large bear. More birds were se- 
cured on March the 14th. The presence of the birds 
so early in the year troubled me as harbingers of an 
early summer. It was unusual for them to come be- 
fore June. The warmer weather of which their pre- 
sence was a warning was unseasonable at this time 
of the year and was usually accompanied by almost 
incessant storms and winds which would have the 



166 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

effect of making our road rough and creating numerous 
lanes of water in the Polar pack. 

"We used every interval of calm in sledge trips over 
to Cape Saulen for the purpose of training our dogs 
and hardening them for the work. I waited anxiously 
for Porter with his small team of powerful dogs, to 
arrive with news from Camps Ziegler and Jackson (C. 
Flora) . But the bad weather that prevented our depar- 
ture for the north also delayed his coming to us. Our 
sledges had been loaded during the first days of March 
and we were only waiting for the wind to cease. 

The detail of the sledge column was as follows: 

First Support: Assistant Surgeon Seitz and Sea- 
man Perry, one team of nine dogs (all poor dogs and 
pups), one sledge, tent, camping equipment, and rations 
for ten men and fifty-nine dogs for one day, and three 
days' rations for two men and one dog team for return 
to camp. This party was not furnished with a kayak 
as they were not expected to leave the Island and be- 
cause it would have increased the weight of the load 
beyond the power of the team. The three days' food 
was provided for the return in case of storms. 

Second Support: Steward Spencer and Seaman 
Meyer, one team of seven dogs, one sledge, a two man 
kayak, a tent and camping outfit, two days' rations 
for the advance of eight men and fifty dogs, five days' 
rations for the return of two men and seven dogs. 

Third Support: Chief Scientist Peters, Assistant 
Engineer Vedoe, Assistant Commissary Stewart, and 
Carpenter Tessem, two teams of eight dogs each, two 
sledges, two kayaks, two tents and camping equipment, 
navigation instruments, six days' rations for the ad- 








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THE RETURN OF THE SUN 167 

vance of six men and forty-three dogs and ten days' 
rations for the return of four men and two dog teams 
to Camp Abruzzi. 

Of course, in addition to the above, each detachment 
was provided with ice picks, arms, and ammunition, 
of which I give a detailed account in the appendix 
to this volume. 

Seaman Duffy and myself formed the Advance 
Party with three teams of nine dogs each, three sledges, 
one canvas canoe, one tent, camp equipment, and 
instruments. We were provisioned with food for two 
men for a hundred days and an allowance of dog 
food for about sixty days, the dogs to be killed for food 
as necessity required. 

In planning the above I could not allow for more 
than a week's support all told. I had to keep in mind 
the need of dogs at camp and the necessity of keeping 
them in as good condition as possible as, on the return 
of the three supporting parties to Camp Abruzzi, the 
dogs (thirty-two in number) would have to sledge 
stores south to Camp Ziegler. A heavy load of food 
for the dogs on the return journey was accordingly 
carried on all the sledges of the supports. Then on 
account of the open condition of the sea there was the 
need of carrying heavy kayaks. The few dog teams 
and the dead weights of kayaks, tents, equipment, and 
return food, was so great that the party could not 
carry enough food to permit of a longer period of sup- 
port. I could depend therefore on but seven days' 
help in all from my three supports. The third support 
was so arranged that Peters acted as guide while 
Stewart helped Duffy and me with our three sledges. 



CHAPTER XXII 

OUR THIRD AND LAST FIGHT WITH THE POLAR ICE 

f\N THE 15th of March the wind ceased, the tem- 
^^ perature went down, and the air cleared. Next 
day we hitched up our teams, and at half past ten in 
the morning left Camp Abruzzi for the ice pack to the 
north, climbing the glacier in the direction of Cape 
Rath. Though newly formed smooth, salt ice seemed 
to stretch north and northwest to the horizon, the 
continual movement and breaking of the ice and the 
prevalent open water to the westward decided me to 
advance from the east of the island in order to insure 
the safety of my supporting parties on their return. 

Engineer Hartt volunteered to remain at camp alone 
until the return of the First Support. Every other 
man took part in the advance north. As we left 
camp that cold March morning, climbing north over 
the glacier, we could discern on looking back the soli- 
tary figure of the Engineer. The only other sign of 
life on that desolate waste in our rear was "Bruno" a 
three-legged dog, barking and whining disconsolately 
because he was not permitted to follow his companions 
yoked in the sledge teams. 

We crossed the summit and then directed our waj r 
toward Cape Rath where Steward Spencer and I de- 
scended in April 1904. When approaching the eastern 
side of the island, and while going down the long slope 

1 68 





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LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 169 

of the glacier nearing the sea level, we saw a bear and 
two cubs slowly making their way toward Hohenlohe 
Island, and in the channel near the glacier was a water 
hole in which birds were swimming and over which we 
could see a flock of birds flying. Just as darkness 
came down we reached the edge of the glacier finding 
that it had calved since 1904. About a thousand yards 
of the terminal slope had broken off leaving a high 
perpendicular face of ice from the top of which a descent 
was impracticable. I ordered camp for the night and 
the next morning sent back the First Support. At 
8 A. m., Dr. Seitz and Perry left me with their dog 
team and sledge, ascending the glacier on their re- 
turn to Teplitz Bay, while we directed our course 
along the edge of the glacier toward Cape Habermann 
where a descent to the channel was possible. We were 
obliged to go a short distance eastward, to round a mass 
of icebergs, and then set our faces northward (magnetic) 
camping that night on heavy ice that seemed to be 
fast to the land and was close to a pressure ridge that 
separated us from the moving sea ice. 

The next morning we cut our way through hills of 
ice, reaching an expanse of young ice broken and un- 
der pressure. From that point I ordered the Second 
Support to return and Steward Spencer and Seaman 
Meyer left at 3.30 o'clock that afternoon, returning 
over the trail we had cut going out. 

An odometer brought from camp for measuring 
the distance travelled was destroyed in the rough ice 
on the outward march that day and abandoned. 
Four more days we held our way northward, the trail 
bending more to the east as we advanced. The ice 



iyo FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

was very rough, worse than in 1904, and very slow 
progress was made, as for every few yards gained we 
were obliged to go ahead of our sledges armed with 
picks and ice-axes to cut the trail and then return and 
assist the teams and sledges one by one over the rough 
road. We seemed to be in an immense river of broken 
ice that moved under the influence of the wind. Our 
trail was from ice-cake to ice-cake, while we crossed 
the separating water by means of ice bridges labor- 
iously constructed at the narrowest points by means 
of our picks. In other places we traversed monster 
pressure ridges that splintered and thundered under 
our feet, frightening the dogs until they whined 
and whimpered in terror. 

It was difficult to find a cake of ice large enough for 
our small party to camp on. Deep snow and numerous 
water lanes with a high temperature and attendent 
fog also impeded our advance. The dogs were often 
up to their bellies in the deep snow but, urged on by 
the drivers, hauled our sledges over the most awful ridges 
and out of deep holes where they had fallen often with 
runners up in the air. At noon on March 21st I took 
an altitude of the sun and was disappointed to find 
that, after all our hard work, our latitude was only 81 
degrees and fifty-five minutes North. On March 
21, 1895, Nansen was at 85 degrees, nine minutes 
North and on March 23, 1900, Captain Cagni sent 
back his ill fated First Detachment from 82 degrees, 
thirty-two minutes North. 

The sledges were standing the hard knocks wonder- 
fully well though ridge after ridge was crossed. A 
rough trail was first cut then the sledges were hauled 





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LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 171 

up. Shouting at the teams, we bent our backs under 
the loads, the heavy work causing the perspiration to 
flow copiously in the very lowest temperature we 
experienced. 

As I recall that trip I wonder what Job would have 
done under similar circumstances. Viewed through the 
months that have since elapsed, some of the happenings 
appear ludicrous, particularly those in which the dogs 
took part, but at the time they were serious and ex- 
asperating enough. Time and again, just as a sledge 
had been laboriously hoisted and poised on a cake in 
mid-air, down would rush the dogs yelping with joy 
to find their loads suddenly grown so easy, leaving the 
driver behind deep in a crevice between blocks of ice. 
The sledge crashed down the slope of tumbled blocks, 
turning over on its descent and bringing up with its 
load of nearly 600 pounds suddenly against a barrier 
of ice. 

Then the dogs would all sit down happy over the 
mishap which gave them a rest while the tired driver 
chopped the ice away from his sledge and painfully 
lifted it upon its runners again. I often thought that 
there was more design than accident in these bursts 
of energy on downward slopes. 

A number of times we found the drawbars of our 
sledges bent flat against a great cake by reason of the 
weight of the loads and the speed on the down grade, 
but the elastic hickory, on being released, always 
jumped back to its form. Stewart, in admiration, 
said one day, "Mr. Fiala, these sledges are made of 
India rubber!" 

On the afternoon of March 2 2d we reached the 



172 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

82nd parallel of latitude but found further progress 
impossible on account of a large open lead filled with 
broken young ice. From the highest vantage point, 
nothing was visible but a horrible jumble of ice-cakes 
on end, mixed small young ice and b^d-sh, the whole in 
motion. To make matters worse the temperature was 
rising rapidly. At last we found a heavy cake sur- 
rounded with pressure ice, the only flat block in 
sight, and on its surface we put up our tents and un- 
hitched our tired dogs. 

That evening, Mr. Peters and I freely discussed the 
outlook. I told him that I purposed pressing north 
with Duffy after he (Peters) had returned to camp 
with his party. Peters did not believe that anything 
could be accomplished by going on, saying that it was 
an impossibility to break the record in such ice. He 
pointed out that if six men and five sledges could hardly 
make three miles a day, two men and three sledges 
would make still less, as the ice was growing worse 
as we advanced. He thought our best course was to 
return to Camp Abruzzi, for should the Relief Ship 
not arrive that year the three teams of good dogs that 
I was taking north with me would be seriously missed, 
and their loss might result gravely for the parties at 
Cape Flora and Camp Ziegler. He also urged the 
possibility of a shortage of food and a lack of game 
at the southern camps. I spent the night sleeplessly 
and, I may add, prayerfully, revolving in my mind the 
arguments for and against continuing the advance. 
It was a bitter disappointment to find retreat inevi- 
table, but I was compelled to admit the cogency of 
Mr. Peters' s arguments and to acknowledge the possi- 



NEARING 82" NORTH LATITUDE 




"THE ICE WAS ROUGH, WORSE THAN IN 1904, AND VERY SLOW PROGRESS WAS MADE" 



high view point had the effect of lowering the ridges and flattening the steep places of which the above photo is an example. 




LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 173 

bility of peril to the expedition party at Cape Flora if 
unsuccored by the Relief Ship and deprived of the extra 
dogs needed to haul supplies. Therefore, with our 
equipment still in perfect condition and with men and 
dogs in the best of health, I saw that I would have to 
return and take up the more important duty of the 
management of the expedition until the arrival of the 
Relief Ship. I, personally, believed that there was 
game enough in the Archipelago and that if proper 
enterprise were shown food in plenty could be secured 
which augmented by the supplies at the various stations 
on the islands would obviate all danger of starvation. 

If the Cape Flora party, obeying my instructions, 
placed all their strong men in the field and spent the 
entire spring and summer sledging supplies from 
Camp Ziegler to Cape Flora, if they used the whale 
boats in search of game, making trips to a distance for 
it if necessary, they would undoubtedly be well sup- 
plied for another winter — if they were doomed to an- 
other winter in the Arctic. But the question arose — 
"Would this energetic obedience to directions be forth- 
coming?" 

Many bitter thoughts came to me that night as I 
lay in my sleeping bag. 

We had reached only 82 degrees North Lat., but 
with the food on our three sledges, if Duffy 
and I could average only five miles a day, we would 
at least break the record and make some return for 
the large expenditure of material, supplies, time, and 
money. We felt ourselves equal in strength, purpose, 
and endurance to any that had ever been in the field; 
our equipment was better and our dogs better trained. 



i74 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

I realised that we had ice and weather conditions un- 
precedentedly bad, but I hoped for and believed in 
better ice after we passed the hundred-mile limit 
from land and got out of the maze of channels and 
ridges. 

But beyond and stronger than pain at heart in being 
disappointed in my wish to go North, was the reali- 
sation that the ultimate responsibility was mine and 
that the right thing for me to do was to turn back and 
take up the reins of government once more. In the 
face of possible danger to the lives of those I had left 
behind, I must not proceed. 

Then if it was right to go back it was not right to go 
any further north and thus chance the loss of men, 
dogs, or equipment. 

The next morning I ordered a return and we set 
our faces toward the south. 

The journey occupied ten days. Two days and three 
nights were spent on a small floating ice-cake, sur- 
rounded by water and broken, melting ice impassable 
to boats or sledges. The temperature meanwhile rose 
to 34 degrees above zero, an abnormal condition 
since, at that time of the year, it should have registered 
as many degrees below. Our position was made the 
more perilous by huge mountains of ice that sprang 
up with the frightful sound of breaking fields and 
threatened to sweep over and engulf our little camping 
ground. Once the cake divided and a broad lane 
opened to within a few feet of us. The following 
night, with a report like that of a small cannon, a 
crack appeared directly beneath one of the small tents. 
Fortunately it did not split the cake asunder. 









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LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 175 

Of course we lost no time in moving our tent to a 
more secure location. 

We kept watch through the nights by tents, two 
hours to each of the three tents. There were two men 
in a tent and one of them, dressed in his furs, kept 
watch for an hour, at the end of which time he aroused 
his companion who would dress and, at the expiration 
of his hour on duty, wake up a man in the next 
tent. 

And so a succession of vigilants kept unceasing 
guard over their sleeping companions. 

The dogs lying in the snow chained to picket lines 
did not know what to think of the unwonted rest. A 
number of them were pups only a little over a year 
old and their shrill barks were a ludicrous contrast to 
the hoarse croaks of the old dogs. At times the whole 
pack would chorus their emotions in a strange un- 
canny medley of howls and yelps that we had heard 
often at camp during the long winter. It was al- 
ways sung while the dogs were lying down. A music- 
ally inclined one would start it by emitting a pro- 
longed howl which was taken up before he ceased by 
every canine within hearing. It was interesting to 
trace through their utterances the pedigree of the dogs. 
Those whose wolf ancestors had been the terror of the 
lonely Russian Steppes howled dismally, while the 
descendants of the Fox tribe brought in the treble 
with their sharp, quick yelps. Each dog lent as much 
volume as he could, and there was a certain dole- 
ful harmony to the flood of sound. Who can say 
what history of the past, what feats of the hunt, were 
immortalised by the chant? It ended as suddenly 



176 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

as it began, the last notes usually a few yelps given 
rapidly and out of key. 

The temperature dropped to 4 degrees below zero 
on the 24th, and, on the morning of the 25th, we made 
an attempt to cross the newly frozen brash that sur- 
rounded our island; but, the temperature rising 
above zero, we were obliged to retreat again reaching 
our old ice-cake just in time. The ice was in motion 
around us and opened into broad lanes and deep holes. 
On the 26th, the thermometer indicated 10 degrees 
below zero and under a shining sun we marched toward 
the island whose dome of ice seemed far away. We 
crossed ridge after ridge and some of the worst ice 
seen thus far. The trail we had so laboriously cut 
on our way out had been obliterated by crushing ice 
fields, and the thunder of the forces of frozen nature 
was in our ears as we bent our course south. 

We came to a wide lead in which a large iceberg was 
jammed and with its great solid bulk prevented the 
two fields from meeting. We spent an hour chopping 
an inclined plane up its face and then hauled our 
sledges over its crest to the other side. The tired dogs 
would lie down at every opportunity and we shouted 
ourselves hoarse in urging them on. Three English 
ice-axes we had brought with us were broken early in 
the march north and in cutting the trail, we depended 
entirely upon the formidable Collins picks. These 
tools were manufactured in America for mining pros- 
pectors and weighed, with their handles, from four 
and a half to five pounds each. They were more 
satisfactory than the Alpine axe and in two years of 
hard use we never broke one. 





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LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 177 

The dogs had fallen into the water so often while 
crossing leads that they grew timid as the tempera- 
ture lowered and the wind arose. 

One of my dogs, Isaac by name, was continually 
causing trouble by slipping his harness when we 
neared a lead. Once loose he was difficult to catch. 
A commotion invariably arose among the teams when 
they caught sight of Ike unharnessed, for nothing 
angered them so much as to see one of their number 
running free while they toiled in the traces. Once, 
in crossing a small lane Isaac slipped his collar and 
started off, but before he got away Duffy's team gave 
chase and Growler, particularly offended at Ikey's 
defection, pounced upon him and held him by the 
throat until I came up and secured him. He received 
a severe whipping which the other dogs seemed to 
thoroughly enjoy, and was tied into his harness with 
a piece of rawhide. He gave no further trouble after 
that. 

We had been obliged to turn four dogs loose — 
Robert, Grabber, Bugler, and Neddie. The first 
named we shot later as absolutely useless; Grabber 
and Bugler were too old and inactive to be of service 
and little Neddie, a pup, was too young to pull well 
and needed more training before we could use him 
successfully. These dogs formed our rear guard. 
They felt their inadequacy and followed respectfully 
about twenty yards behind the last sledge. At night 
when we halted, they came shamefaced into camp, 
their arrival heralded by the barks of the other dogs 
who snarled and showed their teeth and would have 
nothing to do with them. We fed all three for I thought 



178 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

they could be used later in hauling loads over the 
smooth stretches in the channels from Teplitz Bay 
south to Camp Ziegler. 

The winds that blew from the 27th of March to the 
end of the month were exceedingly cold. The temper- 
ature steadily falling reached 45 degrees below zero on 
the 3 1 st, the day we reached Cape Habermann. March- 
ing was really painful, a ten- or fifteen-mile-an-hour 
wind, filled with drifting snow particles, striking our 
faces and turning our cheeks and noses white. We 
called to each other continually, " Your nose is frozen! " 
or, " Your cheeks are frozen! " The dogs gave us much 
trouble by their unwillingness to face the freezing 
blast. We raised our tents under the shadow of the 
great mass of rocks and ice discovered and named 
Cape Habermann by Payer, and there we had pro- 
tection from the wind. 

The Polar traveller on a sledge journey is troubled 
by an accumulation of ice on his tent, sleeping bag, 
and clothing. On account of the low temperature 
the moisture from the body, instead of escaping as 
vapour, condenses in the cold clothing or sleeping bag. 
When the cooker is heating the food the interior of the 
tent is filled with a fog of condensation that whitens 
every object under cover. Companions in a tent have 
difficulty in seeing each other by reason of the fog, and 
the damp atmosphere accentuates the experience of 
cold. When he camps at night he is obliged to un- 
fasten frozen dog harness that sticks to his fingers 
pulling off the skin. He must thaw out his frozen 
sleeping bag by the heat of his body and on awaking 
in the morning soften his deer skin shoes, which froze 



LAST FIGHT WITH POLAR ICE 179 

as hard as steel during the night, by the warmth of his 
hands and pull on his frozen outer garments stiffer 
than an ancient warrior's suit of mail. All this, how- 
ever, is gladly endured if only he may attain Success 
in the end. 

On April 1st we crossed the glacier and descended 
to Teplitz Bay and once again found ourselves at 
Camp Abruzzi— the place of many hopes and dis- 
appointments to me. 

As I stood looking northward over the way we had 
just come, all that was visible of the two years' sledge 
efforts were four little tracks in the snow that could be 
traced up the glacier toward the Mysterious North, 
the Polar explorer's paradise, guarded by the Angels 
of Cold and Darkness whose naming swords illumine 
the skies with auroral splendour during the Polar 
night. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

FROM TEPLITZ BAY TO CAMP ZIEGLER 

T WAS pleased to find on reaching camp that both 
■*■ supporting parties had returned in safety, and 
that Mr. Porter was on hand to greet me with Seaman 
Mackiernan, having arrived at Camp Abruzzi on the 
17th of March, the day after I left for the north. Por- 
ter's march had been a trying experience, bad weather, 
with the loss of his sledge and part of his equipment in 
a snow drift, delaying his progress and preventing his 
reaching me in time to take part in the sledge trip. 
He gave me the good news that everyone was alive 
and well at Cape Flora and at Camp Ziegler and that 
the winter had passed without accident. Two of the 
men, Second Officer Nichols and Seaman Kunold, were 
not in good health, but he thought the return of the 
sun and warm weather would help them to an early 
recovery. 

Porter also brought me letters from Capt. Coffin and 
Observer Long at Camp Jackson, and from Mr. Rilliet 
at Camp Ziegler. They all told of having passed the 
winter successfully and asked for tobacco and supplies. 
Porter told me that the men at Camp Jackson suf- 
fered considerably for want of tobacco. Accordingly 
I arranged for a sledge party to leave for Cape Flora 
in early April with two sledge loads of tobacco and 
food. This party was to go, after delivering the stores, 



TEPLITZ BAY TO CAMP ZIEGLER 



181 



to Kane Lodge and spend the spring and early summer 
hauling food and supplies from there to Camp Ziegler. 
I arranged for still another party to work between 
Camp Abruzzi and Kane Lodge and to move the larger 
part of the cache on Coburg Island to the latter place. 
From Kane Lodge both parties would unite in moving 
the stores to Camp Ziegler. 

The work of exploration and survey was not com- 
pleted in 1904, and I instructed Mr. Porter to penetrate 
the unmapped country known as Zichy Land from 
the south and east while I rounded the islands from 
the north and west, mapping as I went down later in 
the season. 

We had bad weather at camp until April 9th. On 
the nth, Assistant Engineer Vedoe with Stewart and 
Tessem left for Cape Flora. They had two heavy 
sledges, each pulled by a team of seven dogs. Mr. 
Vedoe carried a bag of mail for Camp Ziegler and Cape 
Flora. Some postage stamps had been designed and 
printed and, before the departure of the mail, the men 
found pleasure in writing to their comrades at the 
southern stations and in pasting on the envelopes the 
expedition stamps. Porter cut a cancelling stamp on 
rubber and with it the postage was marked in the 
most approved and regular style. 

Doctor Seitz with Seamen Duffy and Mackiernan 
left at the same time with three teams and sledge loads. 
Their destination was Kane Lodge, where their loads 
of food stores were to be deposited. The rest of the 
season was to be spent by them in transporting stores 
from the large cache at Coburg Island to Kane Lodge 
while Mr. Vedoe and his party, on 'their return from 



1 82 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Cape Flora, carried the stores from Kane Lodge to 
Camp Ziegler. After the required amount of pem- 
mican, etc., had been moved to Kane Lodge by Doctor 
Seitz's party, I instructed him to join forces with 
Vedoe and together transport supplies to Camp Zie- 
gler, continuing at this work until the ice showed 
signs of breaking up. 

On the 17th Doctor Seitz's party returned to Camp 
Abruzzi for a second load having successfully deposited 
stores at Kane Lodge. They reported exciting ad- 
ventures with Polar bears having killed three large ones 
in self-defence, the last within a few feet of them. The 
carcasses of three walruses which they had secured 
for dog food undoubtedly attracted the other two 
bears which made a savage attack upon the men 
who escaped through a fog, having fired their last round 
of ammunition away. Duffy said, " Shure everywhere 
you looked, begob, you would see a bear! Shure 
they were thicker than flies in the summer time!" 

The same day Mr. Peters and Perry left for the 
south with scientific instruments and records, and 
Messrs. Porter, Spencer, and Meyer left with two sledge 
loads of equipment for Camp Ziegler. 

On April 20th Doctor Seitz, Duffy, and Mackier- 
nan started on their last trip for Kane Lodge, leaving 
Engineer Hartt and myself alone at Camp Abruzzi. 
I wished to leave the Camp in good condition, and to 
that end we transported a rifle, tools, ammunition, 
and pieces of equipment that could not be taken south 
to the observatory on the hill, reasoning that under its 
shelter they could not be injured by streams of glacier 
water which I feared would run through the camp in 




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TEPLITZ BAY TO CAMP ZIEGLER 183 

the summer time. A kayak and sledge with fur 
clothing, a tent, and camping equipment — to provide 
for the possible visit of a party in years to come when 
the main camp might be under snow and ice — were 
also taken to the observatory. 

Eleven dogs remained at camp of which Flannigan, 
Jacob, Yellow, and Timmerman were good strong 
sledge animals. Malcheska, a splendid dog, was limp- 
ing from a wound given by a bear, while another dog 
possessed only three legs, having lost the other by an 
accidental shot. The others were discarded animals 
and included in addition to Bugler and Neddie, of whom 
I have spoken, Thor, Francis, and Grey. I found on 
the trail that the poor dogs would not pull if hitched 
up with good ones. They let the willing dogs do all 
the work. To use the whip was to ruin the hard 
workers. So I arranged them in two teams of five 
dogs each, placing all the good dogs in one and all the 
poor dogs in the other. I found that the indifferent 
team could not, or would not, haul even so much as 
1 50 pounds the first time I took them out. Gradually, 
by the exercise of much patience and training, their 
ability increased until they hauled a load of 400 pounds 
without my help, Thor, who had never been known 
to work before, pulling willingly and powerfully and 
seeming to enjoy the exercise. 

On May 26th Hartt and I left our northern station 
for Camp Ziegler. We took our last look at the de- 
serted settlement of Camp Abruzzi and at the icy bay 
of Teplitz behind us, the most desolate of all sights — 
an Arctic desolation. On the march south I had the 
Engineer go ahead while at some distance behind I 




Cape Saulen 
'WE LEFT THE ICY BAY OF TEPLITZ BEHIND US." 




The Odometer 
ON THE MARCH SOUTH ENGINEER HARTT WENT AHEAD WHILE SOME DISTANCE 
BEHIND I FOLLOWED WITH THE TWO TEAMS. 




Cape Brorak. 
THE CAMP AFTER OUR FIRST DAY'S MARCH FROM TEPLITZ BAY 



TEPLITZ BAY TO CAMP ZIEGLER 185 

Cape Flora. On inquiry I learned that in March a 
party of four men, Vaughan and Moulton of the Field 
Party, and Hudgins and Beddow of the crew, with two 
dog teams and sledges had made two trips for food 
from Cape Flora to Camp Ziegler. In April, Hudgins 
and Montrose, with dog team and sledge, made an- 
other journey for food for the ship's company. I 
learned also that, following instructions, Vedoe and 
his companions had taken the food stores and tobacco 
to Cape Flora, arriving there on Easter Eve, and that 
the men were very thankful for the addition to their 
stores, especially for the tobacco. 

The large Vertical Circle loaned to the expedition 
by the Christiana Observatory, together with two 
chronometers and valuable scientific instruments, were 
transported in safety over the ice from Teplitz Bay to 
Camp Ziegler, and two observatories were very ingen- 
iously erected under the direction of Mr. Peters. 

The Magnetic Observatory, in the construction of 
which not a nail or a piece of iron could be used, was 
built of old oars and roofing material, the rolls of ruberoid 
sheeting serving as walls, the whole fabric lashed to- 
gether with marline by Seaman Meyer. The astron- 
omical observatory was built of cases (still full of emer- 
gency rations), wire netting, and roofing material by 
Mr. Porter on his return from his trip of exploration. 

After the work of sledging was over both observator- 
ies were in constant use in a regular routine of work. 
Porter's mapping trip through Zichy Land had been 
successful. He had penetrated the region through an 
uncharted channel, surveying three new islands and four 
channels and mapping numerous capes and headlands. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

WAITING FOR RELIEF IN 1905. 

/"\N OUR arrival at Camp Ziegler we found the 
^-^ two little houses there surrounded by great 
embankments of snow. Much was accomplished in 
the digging of drains for melting snow water, and it 
was necessary to cut ice and dig constantly as the ris- 
ing sun melted the hard packed masses. It was not 
until the end of July that we had rest from pick 
and shovel. On July 4th I sent Doctor Seitz, Stewart, 
and Butland with two dog teams, a sledge and a boat 
over the fast frozen channel to see if there was any 
game at Cape Dillon and to report on the condition of 
the ice south of the islands. The party returned July 
nth. Doctor Seitz reported that game seemed plen- 
tiful, and that they had secured and cached two wal- 
ruses. He also gave me the cheering news that a 
large body of open water which seemed to stretch to 
the horizon was visible from the highest point of the 
cape. A week after their return I sent the same 
party to Cape Dillon with a canoe, sledges, and three 
weeks' food to keep watch for the expected Relief 
Ship and to hunt for game to prepare for the winter 
should the ship not arrive. 

On the following day I sent seamen Duffy, Perry, 

and Mackiernan also to Cape Dillon to assist in the 

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'THE TWO LITTLE HOUSES WERE SURROUNDED BY GREAT EMBANKMENTS OF SNOW" 




THE ENTRANCE TO THE HUTS AT CAMP ZIEGLER 



WAITING FOR RELIEF IN 1905 187 

watch for the ship and hunting of game so that a con- 
tinual outlook could be kept day and night. 

By keeping in the field all spring and summer, the 
men were in splendid condition physically, but as the 
month of July drew to its close without a sign of relief 
anxiety expressed itself on the countenances of my 
comrades. The Steward climbed the high hill back 
of the camp almost every day, taking with him a power- 
ful binocular. Though the sea was twenty miles 
away — too far to sight a sail — and the channel was 
fast with ice, it gave him a sense of satisfaction to look 
down toward the way of escape and watch for the 
steamer's smoke. He was the most successful seal 
hunter in the party and never was so happy as when 
he secured one of these wary creatures. He would 
drag himself out on the ice imitating the motions of a 
seal and thus get within shooting distance before the 
animal was aware of his danger. I shot one at long 
range once but he had life enough left to wiggle into 
his hole. I never succeeded in securing one or in ap- 
proaching within killing range. A seal always lies 
within a foot or two of his hole, usually situated in the 
centre of a large clear space free of hummocks behind 
which his great enemy, the Polar bear, can hide. The 
least sound communicated to his sensitive ear through 
the ice, or the sight of an unfamiliar object is enough to 
make him disappear. Unless the bullet is put through 
the seal's head and instant death results he will 
use his last breath to sink in the water out of reach. 

We lived well at Camp Ziegler on Polar bear steaks 
and on walrus and seal livers, varying the diet of fresh 
food with fried brant and guillemots which were 



1 88 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

really very palatable. At the station we found a large 
store of Swedish conserves with oatmeal, rice, flour, 
and emergency ration of which we made use. 

Stewart and John Vedoe discovered the nesting place 
of a pair of brant and secured the eggs, thus proving 
that they were not hybrids or sterile as has been 
stated. 

After the departure of the six men for Cape Dillon 
the small party at Camp Ziegler worked hard to put 
the houses in repair and make things comfortable for 
the winter. I instructed the industrious carpenter to 
repair an old walrus boat in which I prepared to take a 
load of provisions to Cape Flora just as soon as the 
channel opened, for I reasoned that unless the party 
at that point had been very active in the search for 
game they would be short of food in the latter days 
of August. 

Game could be had though we saw very little at Camp 
Ziegler and found it necessary to make trips to a dis- 
tance in the search for it. 

A bear was secured at Cape Tegetthof, about forty- 
five miles from camp, by three seamen, Duffy, Meyer, 
and Perry. Sledge journeys for game were also made 
to North Island and West Camp and later, as before 
mentioned, to Cape Dillon — the party there being the 
most successful, securing sixteen walruses, one large 
seal, and a bear. 

In the last days of July a feeling of depression seemed 
to possess some of the men and they were harrassed 
with the fear that we would be left in the Archipelago 
for another winter. The more optimistic would speak 
of the dark sky south which could be seen from camp 



WAITING FOR RELIEF IN 1905 189 

and which indicated open water where before there 
was nothing but ice. While last year the prevailing 
winds were from the southeast and had a tendency to 
lock up the ice in the Barentz Sea, this summer we 
were favoured with both southwest and northerly 
winds, the former bringing with them the roll of the 
western ocean, broke up the ice, while the latter would 
disperse it. 

There was at heart an anxiety felt by all and evi- 
denced in the longing looks that were daily sent down 
Aberdare Channel. 

The sun shining day and night melted the surface 
snow and ice in the channel, and great lakes of fresh 
water formed, spreading out as far as one could see, 
and reflecting the blue of the sky. The ice under- 
neath began to disintegrate and at places the sea water 
came through. When a wind was not blowing a 
dense fog usually covered the land and water and often 
a flurry of rain would make us think of warmer climes. 

About half a mile from camp there was a large pool 
of water, and on Sunday afternoon, July 30th, Sea- 
man Meyer and I launched our little canvas canoe 
intending to take a sail around the pond. We had 
dragged the canoe out on a sledge through a fog that 
concealed shore and camp. Just as the bow of the 
boat touched the water I heard the clear notes of the 
bugle at camp sounding the "recall." Not since my 
service in the cavalry in 1898 had I heard that sound. 
It had an urgent meaning. We ceased our prepara- 
tions for the sail and the same question was in the eyes 
of both when we looked at each other — News! Was 
it relief? I told Meyer to place the canoe on the sledge 



i 9 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

and wait and if be heard three blasts on the bugle, to 
come in with the sledge and boat; if the signal was 
not given, I would return. Putting on my skees I 
threaded my way between the water pools to the shore 
where I saw the teams, sledges, and boats of the Cape 
Dillon party. Mr. Stewart was awaiting my arrival, 
and with smiling face told me that the Relief Ship 
Terra Nova, Captain Kjeldsen, had arrived off Cape 
Dillon at 1.30 that morning with my friend Mr. Wil- 
liam Champ on board and in charge. 

On entering the house I found a happy party of men. 
Doctor Seitz handed me a letter from Mr. Champ, my 
first news from the outside world in more than two 
years. Mr. Champ wrote that he was on the Terra 
Nova en route to Cape Flora to rescue the men who 
had wintered there. That accomplished he would 
return immediately with the ship to Cape Dillon and 
there await the arrival of my party, as the ice in the 
channel was still too solid for the ship to force her way 
through the twenty miles to Camp Ziegler. His letter 
also informed me of the death of Mr. Ziegler, an in- 
telligence that cast a gloom over me shadowing the 
happiness I felt in the relief of my men. The experi- 
ence of the two years with its numerous sledge jour- 
neys had given me an insight into Arctic conditions 
that I believed would be invaluable for future work, 
and made me feel that with an another opportunity 
this dearly bought experience might purchase victory. 
And in addition to my sense of personal loss in the 
death of a good friend, was the realisation that with 
his departure possibly the work would cease. 

The long strain at last was over! Members of the 





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WAITING FOR RELIEF IN 1905 191 

Cape Dillon party with those at camp talked happily- 
over the prospect of home going. Plans were formed 
for pleasure trips through Europe en route home. 

Many expressed their longing to possess the letters 
and packages from relatives and friends awaiting 
them on the Terra Nova. 

The Cape Dillon party had made a splendid march 
through fog and bad ice to our camp, every one of 
them anxious to unburden himself of the good news. 
They had tramped through miles of surface water, over 
the channel ice and crossed leads, making the entire 
distance — a little over twenty miles — in less than 
seven hours. 

While the Steward — his face wreathed in smiles — 
prepared a meal for the travellers, we plied them with 
questions. We were all especially amused at Duffy's 
account of the ship's arrival. 

I did not expect the Terra Nova to return to Cape 
Dillon from Cape Flora until late the following day and 
thought it unnecessary for us to hurry down the 
channel. 

When the sun was low, during the hours we through 
force of habit called night, the surface water froze 
over into thin sheets of ice that cut the dogs' feet. I 
believed it would be better to leave camp near noon 
and thus allow time for the midday sun and the higher 
temperature to thaw these sheets, so glass-like and 
sharp. 

The great cache of food stores we had placed on a 
sand hill was moved down to the camp, and the boxes, 
barrels, and tins stored in the houses. Messrs. Peters 
and Porter, with the aid of Assistant Engineer Vedoe, 




1 92 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

packed up the large transit and magnetic instruments 
and all the records, and soldered them in tin cases to 
prevent injury. 

A boat or kayak was placed on each of the five 
sledges and instruments, tools, etc., were packed within, 
as Doctor Seitz had reported much water on the ice 
and at least one lead which we would need a boat in 
crossing. 

We had one more night's rest in our old sleeping 
bags. They had served us well and were now worn 
from use. On arising in the morning our eyes, nostrils, 
mouths, and ears were full of deer hairs which the bag 
had shed overnight. 

After the houses and observatories at Camp Ziegler 
had been locked up, and all provisions carefully stored, 
sledges were loaded for the last time and, in a thick 
fog, we started south over the ice of Aberdare Channel 
on our homeward trail. 




Fireman Bulland 



Asst. Surgeon Seitz 




HAULING A DEAD WALRUS ON TO THE ICE FOOT AT CAPE DILLON 





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CHAPTER XXV 

RESCUED 

TV/TEN and dogs took the water like ducks, though in 
some places it was over our knees, with rotten 
ice underneath that gave under the weight of the 
caravan. A fog obscured the view and I went ahead 
feeling the way with a skee staff — a precaution that 
saved me many a bath. 

After passing a point of land and changing our course 
we came to a long open lead across which we were 
obliged to boat- the entire party of sixteen men, five 
sledges, and fifty dogs. 

On nearing Cape Frithjof we heard rifle shots and 
— the fog lifting while we were crossing the lead — we 
had a glimpse of our rescuers on the farther side. 

Mr. Champ, accompanied by Surgeon Mount and 
a party of Norwegian sailors from the Terra Nova and 
Sergt. Moulton and Assistant Engineer Hudgins from 
the Cape Flora party, had come to meet us out on the 
ice. And a memorable meeting it was! It was good 
to look into the face of our brave rescuer and to hear 
his voice after the long months of separation. Mr. 
Champ was overjoyed to learn that only one of the 
large party that had set sail from Norway two years 
before was missing. 

After the first exuberant greetings, came anxious 
queries for news of home and of the great outside 

J 93 



i 9 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

world. We learned, all at once, of the war between 
Russia and Japan, the result of the international 
yacht race in 1903, and of the many disasters on land 
and water that had marked our months of exile. 

But what touched every one of us most deeply was 
to hear from Mr. Champ's lips the account of the death 
of Mr. William Ziegler. He had died thinking of and 
providing for our rescue, and his last spoken words 
had been a wish that we might be found. 

In this intensely commercial age it is well to pause 
and consider one who though in life a prince of finance 
had yet for his strongest ambition not the possession 
of material wealth but a wish to enlarge the geographi- 
cal borders of the world and to capture the most inac- 
cessible region of the earth in the name of his native 
land. 

We travelled together to the Terra Nova, Mr. Champ's 
party using the two dog teams and sledges I had left 
at Cape Flora irj 1904. A dense fog concealed the 
ship until we were a very short distance from her. 

The trail broken through the ice by the relief party 
proved of much assistance in guiding us to where the 
ship lay and over it the dogs could move faster and 
without cutting their feet. 

The Terra Nova was a glorious sight as she mater- 
ialised out of the mist — her form glistening in the 
sunshine as the fog lifted. 

I never experienced such a sense of loss as I did on 
beholding the splendid vessel; never realised so keenly 
our ship-wrecked condition. 

It did not take us long to go aboard and enjoy once 
again the luxuries of a warm bath, clean clothing, and 



RESCUED 195 

fresh food, and, best of all, to receive the two years' 
accumulation of mail, the letters from loved ones and 
friends. 

Aboard the Terra Nova we learned from Mr. Champ 
of his efforts to reach us in 1904. He and Captain 
Kjeldsen, one of the best ice-pilots of Norway, had 
hammered away at the ice in the steamer Frithjof 
until her bow-plates had loosened and fallen off. 
When nearly all the coal had disappeared, a return was 
made to Norway and the Frithjof s bunkers were filled. 
At the end of the season still another and a more dan- 
gerous effort was made to reach us, the Frithjof re- 
turning only when the sea began to freeze on the ap- 
proach of winter. 

The ice in 1905 was bad, and at times the powerful 
Terra Nova was helpless to advance against it. It 
was only after weeks of patient, courageous hard work 
that we were rescued in the last days of July. 

Those great bags of mail contained but one letter 
with sad news. It was never delivered. Fireman 
Myhre, to whom it was addressed, was asleep in his 
tomb on Cape Saulen's height when his wife died in 
Norway. 

I found all the members of the Cape Flora company 
on the Terra Nova and was glad to note that their 
general health seemed good. I learned later that it had 
been necessary to help several of them aboard the 
ship when rescued. Hardly twenty-four hours had 
elapsed since their relief. Joy is a great physician! 
There was not a noticeably sick man amongst the num- 
ber. They had brought on board with them two 
little Polar bear cubs which they had captured 



1 96 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

at Cape Flora in the spring. The mother had been 
shot the same day — May 29th — but "Billy" and 
"Louise" were fed and kept alive at the station until the 
arrival of the Terra Nova. 

The ship's company was increased by still another 
passenger — "Buster Brown," a cub larger than the 
other two. He had been captured by the relief party 
•out on the ice in Barentz Sea. He was so savage a 
beast and gave so much trouble that it was necessary 
to confine him to the constricted space of a heavy 
wooden cage. 

Under Captain Kjeldsen's guidance the splendid 
Terra Nova forced her way through the icy Barentz 
Sea. It is always easier to leave the ice pack than to 
enter it ; to go south than to go north, and, on Sunday, 
August 6th, we entered the open sea and felt for the 
first time the motion of the waves. 

In the early morning of August 9th our eyes were 
gladdened by the sight of land as the green hills of Nor- 
way rose before us. Steaming through the beautiful 
fjords we felt that our bond with the human race had 
not been broken, that sunshine the year round would 
soon be our experience, and God's Country a reality. 

We had lost in our raid to the north, and had been 
forced to return without our ship or the colours 
of the enemy. Still hope burned in the thought that, 
over the bones of our dearly bought experience, some 
day an expedition might march to Discovery and 
Victory. 



Jl 





ANTHONY FIALA WM. S. CHAMP 

Photographs taken directly after the meeting of the rescued and rescuer on the ice of Abedare Channel 




OUR LAST MARCH 




WILLIAM S. CHAMP 

Commander Ziegler Relief Expedition, 1904-1005 




VZUdtlUy 




AN AFTERWORD 



AN AFTERWORD 

T) ESIDES the tangible results of the Ziegler Polar Ex- 
pedition in the discovery and mapping of new 
lands and the recording of scientific data, the lessons 
learned by the experience of two years in the ice-fields 
should be of value to prospective explorers. 

Outside the realm of the Arctic there are no camps 
of instruction for Polar travellers ; but each expedition 
each reconnoissance or assault in force upon the ranks 
of the Ice King brings new knowledge of his strong- 
hold, new methods of attack. 

Every explorer must evolve a plan, provide an 
equipment, and engage his assistants, and it is to him 
— the man who contemplates a venture for the Pole — 
that this chapter is especially addressed. 

THE PLAN 

After the experiences of 1903-04-05 it appears to 

me that the most feasible method of attack would be 

to use a strongly built drift ship on the plan originally 

suggested by Admiral Melville from observations taken 

during the drift of the Jeanette and materialised 

later in the successful Fram. I would advocate a 

small ship as it could be more easily handled and 

would be less liable to destruction. The party on such 

a vessel should be no larger than absolutely necessary. 

Our own expedition ship, the America, would doubt- 

199 



2oo FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

less not have been lost had she been constructed so 
as to rise with the pressure and had been heavily tim- 
bered to her keel. 

As a result of the squeeze of November, 1903, the 
ship was raised bodily until the thin skin under her 
armour was reached and penetrated by the ice. 
She was not strong enough to bear the enormous 
weight of engine, boiler, and coal in addition to the 
outside pressure of the ice-fields. The America's 
bow and fore-foot were well armoured to the keel 
with tough, old " greenheart, " which withstood the 
strain of the fatal nip of Nov. 21, 1903, so well that 
the bow was raised without injury high enough for 
us to touch her fore-foot. 

As is the case with most whalers of her class, the 
America's heavy, wooden sheathing ended a few feet 
below the water line, a short distance aft of the bow. 
For forcing her way through the summer ice-fields she 
was well constructed. Her thick sides stood many 
a tight nip and resisted the ice in Teplitz Bay until it 
caught her "below the belt" of armour. 

Wood is, undoubtedly, the best material from which 
to construct a drift ship as it is more elastic than metal. 
However a sheathing of steel over an under armour of 
greenheart would be valuable as a surface protection. 

A ship such as I have described would serve as the 
expedition's base and from it a small, well conditioned 
sledge party with dogs and ponies could proceed north. 
The vessel should be equipped with a complete ap- 
paratus for wireless telegraphy. The necessity for 
economy of space and weight would preclude the 
possibility of carrying a transmitter with its accom- 




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AN AFTERWORD 201 

paniment of dynamo and machinery on the sledges, 
and consequently no messages could be sent from 
field party to ship. A light receiver, however, could 
be carried and by means of it the sledge party could be 
informed of the condition and position of the ship. 
This communication, sent at a specified hour each day, 
would be a time signal by which the watches of the 
sledge party could be corrected. Thus the exact longi- 
tude of the party would be assured — another provision 
for safety. 

The sledge party should carry a kite for receiving 
the messages. The ship should be supplied with a 
captive balloon and inflating apparatus, the gas being 
carried in steel cylinders and a gas compressor used to 
inflate and deflate. Possibly a hot air balloon would 
serve the purpose, the furnaces of the ship's boilers 
providing the necessary heat. 

The balloon would be valuable on calm days as 
a mark for the returning sledge party, its great eleva- 
tion affording also a position from which observations 
of the ice could be made. Mirror signals could also 
be flashed from the car of the balloon. 

The drift ship should either enter the ice by way of 
Bering Sea at the point advocated by the Canadian 
explorer, Captain Bernier, and drift with the ice- 
fields across the Polar Sea, or force a passage to Teplitz 
Bay and there await the opening of the sea north of the 
Franz Josef Archipelago, in September or October, 
and then slowly fight her way north. 

Doctor Nansen's ship, the Fram, reached her highest 
latitude north of one of that group — Rudolph Island — 
and in the two years we spent at Teplitz Bay both 



202 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

September and October of 1903 and 1904 were char- 
acterised by large stretches of open water to the north 
of the islands. 

Norwegian sealers and whalers speak of a great 
open sea north of Spitzbergen and between that group 
and the Franz Josef Archipelago in which they have 
sailed during certain seasons. 

With a drift ship as a base the sledge party would 
have the advantage of a high latitude from which to 
start polewards, and would also be favoured with bet- 
ter ice conditions than they would find when leaving 
a land base. They would escape too the open lanes 
and pressure ridges that extend north from all Arctic 
lands. Another advantage lies in the fact that should 
the sledge parties find it necessary to return to the 
ship the distance to travel would be materially short- 
ened. 

To march from a land base would require a large 
party, and an expedition leader deciding on the plan 
of advance from a base on terra firma could do no bet- 
ter than establish his headquarters at a station about 
one or two hundred miles south of the most northern 
land at a place accessible to steamers and from which 
a trail with fairly smooth ice conditions might be 
made to the northern limit of the land. 

Cape Dillon, on McClintock Island in the Franz 
Josef Archipelago, is well adapted for such a 
station and is connected by an interchannel route 
with Rudolph Island, the highest known land on the 
European side of the globe. 

After landing the cargo the expedition ship should 
return to civilisation where arrangements would be 



AN AFTERWORD 203 

made yearly for her return to the Arctic until the com- 
pletion of the work. 

The spring following the expedition's arrival the 
leader would take a large party of men, dogs, ponies, 
and sledges on a journey to the most northern land 
attainable where a cache would be established and a 
shelter erected. The cases of food supplies could be 
made of one size and used for the walls of the house — 
all covers inside. 

The cache placed and shelter arranged, a return 
should then be made to headquarters. This first 
journey would serve as a practice march, being 
at the same time a test of men, animals, and 
equipment. The fibre of the men would thus be 
proved and only those fitted for the undertaking 
should be kept for the work the following year, 
when the real advance north would take place. 
The Relief Ship arriving in the summer after the 
practice march would take home all who were dis- 
contented or unsuited for a cold climate, and also 
reinforce the expedition with new men, animals, and 
supplies. 

In the sledge work on the comparatively smooth 
channels between the islands there are long stretches 
where a special form of alcohol or gasolene driven motor 
would serve admirably to help the party to the ad- 
vance camp the second season. But on the moving 
ice the use of such machines can hardly be recommended 
for, even if a motor could be constructed to go over 
the pressure ridges and rough ice of the Polar pack, it 
would necessarily haul so slowly that from the stand- 
point of economy a pony or dog team would be pref- 



2o 4 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

erable, since either could, travel on a less expenditure 
of fuel.* 

Crossing the Pole with a balloon or a flying machine 
is advocated by some. To succeed in so doing in the 
present undeveloped state of aerial navigation would 
be a miracle almost. No machine of any construction 
should be depended upon for use in the Arctic until 
it has been tried successfully in civilisation. Even 
then its success in the ice-fields would be problematical. 
I believe the only way a balloon could be used would 
be to construct one large enough to carry two men and 
an entire sledge equipment north. So long as the 
balloon or flying machine kept its northward course, 
the occupants could depend upon its help and possibly 
a number of miles could be thus covered with little 
exertion; but as soon as the wind changed a descent 
should be made, the travellers continuing their jour- 
ney by sledge. 

All things considered, the drift ship seems to afford 
the greatest possibility of success. But the explorer 
who takes this method should be provided with light 
boats and be prepared to winter on the Polar pack 
should he lose his ship. 

*While crossing the numerous pressure ridges and lanes in our sledge 
journey in March, 1905, it occurred to me that a sledge could be con- 
structed from about 40 to 80 feet long and propelled by gasolene or 
alcohol motors. The great length and size of the sledge would make the 
hummocks seem small in comparison and many of the numerous pitfalls, 
crevices, ridges and lanes would be crossed with comparatively little effort. 
As an ocean steamer is unaffected by the waves that almost swamp a 
small boat, so this great structure of wood and metal could cross the sum- 
mits of pressure ridges, in many cases from crest to crest, without the 
need of descending into the labyrinth of broken blocks between. I drew 
a plan of such a contrivance on return to camp but could not think of 
constructing even an experimental sledge on account of lack of suitable 
material and machinery. 



An afterword 205 

EQUIPMENT 

The Ponies 

uhe one important point in which our equipment 
differed radically from that prepared for other attempts 
over the Polar ice was in the use of ponies. These 
tough little animals are accustomed to the very lowest 
temperatures experienced on the Steppes of Siberia — 
some parts of which are considered the coldest places 
of the earth. They are also accustomed to forcing 
their way through deep snows and to cross frozen 
rivers whose shores are lined with broken ice and deep 
drifts. They had been used first by Jackson who be- 
lieved them superior to dog teams and used them in 
preference to dogs on his trips of exploration and sur- 
vey through the Franz Josef ArchipelagoX 

In the record of his journeyings," A Thousand Days 
in the Arctic," he states his belief that the Pole could 
be reached by means of ponies. Baldwin followed 
in the footsteps of Jackson and it was on his numerous 
sledge journeys over the frozen channels of the Franz 
Josef Archipelago in 1901 and igo2 that I became 
convinced of the ponies' worth. 1 On smooth ice the 
dogs travelled faster than their rivals but just as soon 
as they struck rough going the ponies out-distanced the 
dogs easily, at the same time dragging heavier loads. 
The men driving the dog teams were tired out at the 
end of a day's march by the constant exertion in help- 
ing the dogs pull their loads up grades and over ice- 
blocks, but it was seldom that the ponies required 
assistance. 

Lucas^one of the pony drivers on the Baldwin- 



206 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Ziegler expedition — with five assistants made abcmt 
six trips over rough ice between Hohenlohe Island and 
Cape Auk with from ten to twelve pony sledges heavily 
loaded, while the dog teams made only one trip. 

In my own experience the ponies proved of great 
value. In the unloading of the ship, they were used 
to the exclusion of the dogs, and during the retreat 
from our northern base to Cape Flora in the spring of 
1904 they dragged the heaviest loads, and instead of 
requiring help when rough ice was encountered in the 
British Channel, they often helped their drivers over 
some of the bad places. The distance travelled over 
the floating sea ice north of Rudolph Island on our 
first two attempts north was too short to allow of a 
fair estimate or criticism of the service of the ponies. 
On our second sledge journey, four men attended the 
seven pony sledges while there was a driver to each 
dog team. 

The ponies could hardly be restrained in their wild 
efforts to keep constantly on the march and in 
touch with the preceding sledge on the trail. The 
greatest difficulty was experienced in the constant 
overturning of the unattended pony sledges. The 
ponies, continuing to drag their upset loads, often 
wedged them between ice blocks, and so a number 
of sledges were broken. 

The harness we used consisted of a breast-strap 
covered with sheep skin and suitable traces and shoulder 
straps. A collar harness would have been better by 
far but not knowing the size of the ponies until I 
reached Archangel I was unable to order that style of 
harness in America. The only collars procurable in 



AN AFTERWORD 207 

Russia were made of wood and straw-stuffed leather, 
altogether too heavy and clumsy for use on the Arctic 
marches where every extra pound, every ounce, 
meant so much slower progress, so much more fuel 
for transportation. 

The ponies required each about ten pounds of food 
a day in the form of hay and oats. They seemed to 
prefer the hay and, undoubtedly, in their Siberian 
home they had little else to eat. For their use on the 
trail we carried nose-bags in which was placed their 
daily allowance of oats. A leather measure was used 
to proportion the daily ration. 

As a protection against wind in the very cold weather 
each pony was provided with a wool blanket covered 
with khaki cloth with which, after a day's travel, we 
always covered our little charges, thus insuring their 
warm bodies from injury by the chilling blasts. 

I believe ponies would work admirably in the rough 
ice if provided with sledges built with five or six run- 
ners around a central load with a swivel bar in front 
to which the harness would be attached — the loads to 
be placed in the sledges from the rear. 

Of the thirty ponies, property of the expedition, 
fourteen were lost up to April 30th, 1904, the day the 
retreating party left Camp Abruzzi. 

The losses were as follows: 



Aug. 8, 1903— One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected with 

glanders. Shot I 

Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 1903 — Five ponies lost in stampede by falling into 

crevasses on glacier 5 

Sept. 3, 1903— One pony died of exhaustion from overwork 1 

Feb. 1, 1904— One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected 

with glanders. Shot 1 



208 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Feb. 8, 1904 — One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected by 

tuberculosis. Shot 1 

Feb. 21, 1 904 — One pony died of catarrh of the stomach 1 

April 1 6, 1904 — One pony shot for fresh meat 1 

April 22, 1904 — One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected 

with glanders. Shot 1 

April 28, 1904 — One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected 

with glanders. Shot r 

April 30, 1904 — One pony reported by Veterinarian to be infected 

with glanders. Shot r 

Total loss up to and including April 30, 1904 14 

Sixteen ponies left Camp Abruzzi April 30, 1904, for Gape Flora. Dur- 
ing the march south, three ponies were shot for dog food and one 
died in harness 4 

May 16, 1904 — Ten ponies reported by Veterinarian as infected 

with glanders and farcy. Shot on arrival at Cape Flora 10 

During September, 1904, the two remaining ponies were shot for food 

for the men at Cape Flora 2 

Total 7° 

The Dogs 

The dogs gave little trouble as most of them had been 
broken into harness and sledge hauling on the previous 
expedition. The collars for their harness (furnished 
by Abercrombie and Fitch of New York City) were 
admirable, never causing abrasions of the skin or har- 
ness galls. 

Under Doctor Vaughn's direction, dog harness 
was made and traces attached to collars after the 
mode in use in Alaska. The dogs were placed in pairs, 
a method that worked very well, and there was little 
entangling of harness on the trail. 

On the Baldwin-Ziegler expedition, we had been 
much troubled by torn dog traces and chewed harness. 
To obviate a repetition of these annoyances, I ordered 
a number of light, strong chains, canvas covered, for 



AN AFTERWORD 209 

use as dog traces. They proved entirely satisfactory 
and on the second year's trip were used almost ex- 
clusively. 

Only the incorrigible fighters among the dogs were 
chained. The others were allowed to run free at 
camp and the exercise thus received kept them in good 
condition for the sledge work in the spring. A num- 
ber were lost in fights and others having wandered to 
the ice off shore were carried away by the wind. 

I believe the best way to keep dogs through the 
Arctic winter would be to have a stable tent — such as 
we had — and in addition have, connected with this 
shelter tent, a large space enclosed by a high wire 
fence in which, on calm days, the dogs could run free 
without danger of straying. 

When drifting snows raised the level within the en- 
closure extra wire could be added to increase the 
height of the fence, long poles or fence standards hav- 
ing been planted in the beginning to provide for such 
a contingency. 

Great stress should be placed upon the importance 
of every man's knowing his own dogs. To effect this 
the teams should be assigned the first autumn, and, if 
possible, the original arrangement should stand through- 
out the time spent in the Arctic. 

If the pack is a large one the dogs should be watched 
constantly to prevent loss by fights. The shelter tent 
and fence already mentioned would make such sur- 
veillance possible. 

I had ordered a quantity of Spratt's dog biscuits 
for food for the pack during the winter. At the sug- 
gestion of Doctor Vaughn, who was engaged to take 



2io FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

charge of the dogs, some tons of tallow were also pur- 
chased. A box of biscuits and a keg of tallow were 
always kept open in the shelter tent. The dogs fre- 
quently partook of this "free lunch" and grew sleek 
and fat. 

Doctor Vaughn constructed an ice melter from the 
mixing tank of the gas generator left by the Italian 
Duke. It was mounted within the entranceway to the 
stable tent and furnished sufficient water for both dogs 
and ponies throughout the long dark winter. 

On the trail we fed the dogs with pemmican, a one- 
pound block of the condensed meat to each animal 
at the end of a day's journey. It proved sufficient 
and kept the dogs in splendid condition. 

The record of the dogs reads as follows: 

Taken aboard S. Y. America at Trono, Norway 158 

Large pups taken abroad same place 27 

Taken aboard S. Y. America at Solombol, Russia 24 

Already aboard ship r 

Pups born at Oamp Abruzzi (winter 1903-4) 8 

Total 218 

Dogs taken from Camp Abruzzi April 30, 1904, to Oape Flora 65 

Dogs remaining at Oamp Abruzzi April 30, 1904 66 

Total 131 

Total losses to April 30, 1904 87 

From the 66 dogs left at Oamp Abruzzi, twenty-three were taken 

South (May 9, 1904) by Mr. Porter and his survey party .... 23 

Losses to Nov. 20, 1904 8 

Total 31 

Dogs remaining in Oamp 35 

Dogs brought from Oape Flora to Camp Abruzzi Nov. 20, 1904 33 

Total at Camp Abruzzi, Nov. 20, 1904 68 

Dogs lost during winter of 1 904-5 8 

Number remaining for sledge trip of 1905 60 

Dogs brought from Oape Flora by Mr. Porter Mar. 17, 1905 4 

Total number at Camp Abruzzi April 1, 1905 64 



AN AFTERWORD 211 

There were also about twenty-five dogs at Cape 
Flora and five at Camp Ziegler. These together with the 
number at Camp Abruzzi were taken aboard the 
Relief Ship the following summer. The laws of Nor- 
way forbade leaving them upon any Norwegian terri- 
tory and the disposition of so many dogs became a 
serious problem. The Norwegian members of the 
party took some of their sledge dogs home, and some 
of the best pups were given to sealers and whalers. 
Five were brought home and presented to the Bronx 
Park. But the vast majority of the animals were 
too old for further use and had to be shot 
and thrown overboard. I regretted the measure — 
for the creatures had served us well — but it was 
the only thing we could do. 

Food Supplies 

The food aboard ship, in camp, and on the trail was 
good, and the great variety in our stores allowed much 
change in the menu from time to time. Fresh bread, 
pies, cakes and puddings formed part of our daily bill- 
of-fare at the expedition base, thanks to the activity 
and industry of Steward Spencer who had much to 
contend against, particularly after the loss of the ship 
when the entire party was housed in the crowded quar- 
ters at Camp Abruzzi. In response to an expressed 
wish of mine, the Steward experimented until he suc- 
ceeded in producing a fine biscuit composed of nutri- 
tious beans, pork, and flour. He cooked and baked 
600 pounds of this food during the winter of 1903-04. 
On the trail the men showed a decided preference for 



2i2 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the pork-and-beans biscuits which never grew hard, 
no matter how cold the weather, and had, in addition 
to a high food value, a very pleasant taste. 

In the large cache left at Teplitz Bay by the Duke 
of the Abruzzi many delicacies were found that 
proved acceptable. We have the Duke to thank, too, 
for the food stores left at Cape Flora which, on the non- 
arrival of the Relief Ship in 1904, became the chief 
supply of the party in retreat at that point. 

Game was secured at all the camps and the meat 
of the Polar bear, walrus, and seal, as well as of guil- 
lemots, loons, and brant, appeared on our table. 
:Over 120 Polar bears were killed during our two years' 
stay in the Franz Josef Archipelago. Scurvy was 
unknown and the general health of the party was good.\> 

The sledge ration used the first year was as follows 
[the diagram was prepared by our Assistant Surgeon 
Charles L. Seitz, M.D.]: 







THE ARRIVAL OF THE RELIEF SHIP OFF CAPE DILLON JULY 80. 1905 




CAMP JACKSON AT CAPE FLORA AT THE ARRIVAL OF THE RELIEF SHIP 





RESCUERS AND RESCUED MEET ON THE ICE OF ABEDARE CHANNEL "AND A MEMORABLE 

MEETING IT WAS " 




THE CAMP AT CAPE DILLON WHERE WATCH WAS KEPT FOR THE RELIEF SHIP— AND 

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AN AFTERWORD 215 

The ration was ample and gave good working energy. 
It was large enough to allow of some saving from day 
to day and an extra day's ration could be thus gained 
in a week's time. 

Through experience on many sledge trips we found 
that the quantity of tea should be about double the 
regular allowance. We also found that cornmeal and 
oatmeal did not, during the cold weather, satisfy the 
sense of hunger. They were consequently reduced to a 
very small amount for use of the party when storm- 
bound or during the warmer weather of early summer. 
Smoked beef, beef tongue, and corned beef were elimi- 
nated from the sledge-trip bill-of-fare. 

We found the sausages valuable in many ways and 
particularly good in the Erbswurst stew. 

Beans when well cooked with pork and dried in an 
oven to expel the water are valuable as food since they 
not only furnish considerable energy but also please 
the palate. I have already mentioned the pork-and- 
bean biscuit. It is best when prepared in camp and 
is a food that should be carried on every Arctic sledge 
trip. 

We carried two kinds of pemmican, one prepared in 
the United States, the other in Europe. The American 
product bought of Armour and Company consisted 
of the lean and fat of beef mixed with currants, the 
whole made to resemble as nearly as possible the original 
pemmican used by the American Indian during war 
and on the chase. 

The bulk of the American pemmican was sweet, 
nutritious, and energy producing. It should be care- 
fully watched though during its preparation. Our 



2 i6 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

cans were not uniformly good, some of them being 
filled with meat that contained gritty particles hard to 
chew and in consequence difficult to digest. It took 
a longer time to cook, which meant an undue expendi- 
ture of oil on a sledge journey. 

The pemmican prepared abroad was nearly 30 per 
cent, fat, and we used it for dog food. On account of 
the one-pound blocks into which it was manufactured 
it was particularly convenient for this purpose. 

The food stores furnished by Beauvais of Copen- 
hagen, Denmark, were particularly well canned and 
the order for provisions from his firm was honestly 
executed. Amongst all the stores furnished by Beau- 
vais not one article was found defective. 

On all our marches where there were a number of 
men, a separate cook tent was used and rt proved a 
great convenience as well as a great economizer of oil, 
food, and time. During the retreat to Cape Flora 
two warm meals were cooked each day for the whole 
party of twenty-five men, at which coffee or tea, and 
drinking water were furnished. After the column 
had marched four or five hours, a halt was usually 
made and hot coffee served. On several occasions I 
timed the duration of the halt and found that within 
one hour from the time the signal to stop had been given 
each of the twenty-five men, having received two cups 
of coffee and all the water he wished to drink, was on 
the march again. Within that hour, the cook tent 
was unlashed and raised, the ice cut and melted, and 
coffee prepared and drank without hurry. There was 
also the necessary readjustment of the cook tent. 

For convenience in handling, provisions and stores. 



AN AFTERWORD 217 

should be packed as far as possible in cases not weigh- 
ing over fifty or sixty pounds gross. 

All tins of provisions should have paper labels re- 
moved and be heavily lacquered or painted to preserve 
them from rust. The cans should be stamped or 
embossed with numbers as a key to their contents, all 
cans containing the same food article being marked 
with a similar number. 

Petroleum should not be carried in barrels as it soon 
evaporates through the wood. Small steel tanks 
containing about ten gallons each are a convenient 
form for shipment. 

Clothing 

The clothing to be selected for wear in the Far- 
North is a most important matter. A number of Arc- 
tic explorers are strong advocates of woollens; others 
believe in furs. 

From my own experience and from observation I 
have come to the conclusion that the lightest and most 
serviceable clothing is that made from the skins of 
the domesticated deer — young animals from two to 
five months old. The skins tanned by the native 
Samoyede or Esquimaux are vastly preferable to other 
varieties. 

The suit should consist of a shirt rather long in the 
skirt to be worn over the trousers — the fur side, of 
course, turned in. It should be so made that the neck 
opening could be extended when the wearer desired 
to expose his neck or upper chest to the air. 

I wore a separate fur cap because it gave more freedom 



2i8 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

of movement; but a hood could be attached to the 
shirt. That is a matter to be decided through personal 
preference. 

The shirt should not weigh more than two and a 
half pounds at the outside. 

The trousers, made of heavier fur, should go just 
below the knee, and should be worn with the fur side 
out. They would be too warm otherwise. 

The fur stocking should be made of the thin skin of 
the two-month-old deer and worn with the fur inside. 
Over it could be worn either the Lapp shoe, made of 
the hard skin taken from the head or leg of the adult 
deer and stuffed with senne grass, or the sealskin shoe 
made after the pattern in use among the Greenland 
Esquimaux. 

I take this opportunity to recommend a light felt 
boot as a style of footwear admirably adapted to feet 
accustomed to the leather boots and shoes of civili- 
sation. 

I had a number of pairs made of this material for use 
in sledge work. 

Mr. Frederick Simpson, of Rogers, Peet and Company, 
New York City, spent much time and thought in their 
manufacture. They were well made and warm and 
proved to be the most serviceable footwear we had. 
As an instance of their durability I will quote my own 
experience. I wore a pair of these felt shoes on sledge 
trip over the glacier of Rudolph Island in October 1903. 
The same pair did service on both attempts north in 
March 1904, on the retreat south in May 1904, and on 
the advance north from Cape Flora which occupied 
parts of the months of September and November and 



AN AFTERWORD 219 

all of October 1904. I also wore the same boots 
around camp at Teplitz Bay and at Cape Flora. 

Two pairs of these boots were furnished every man 
in the expedition. 

In addition to the articles of apparel already men- 
tioned, a fur coat to be worn during halts should be 
added to the sledger's outfit. This coat properly con- 
structed of fur not too heavy would not weigh over 
five pounds and would slip easily over the fur shirt. 

For protection from wind and flying snow, we wore 
loose coats of Pongee silk and long trousers of the 
same material. The latter were provided with tapes 
at the bottom by means of which they were secured 
around the ankles. Pongee silk is far better than 
canvas or sheeting made from cotton or linen. It does 
not absorb moisture readily and if wet dries quickly. 
It is in every way more desirable than canvas or the 
thin cotton sail and tent material erroneously placed 
upon the market under the name of silk. 

On entering a tent or shelter for rest, we always 
removed our silk wind coats and trousers and shook 
out the snow and ice particles before placing them in 
a corner of the tent where they would be at once ac- 
cessible and out of the way. 

A fur suit properly cared for and worn correctly is 
the most comfortable garment for Arctic travel. A 
good plan would be to adopt the Esquimaux fashion of 
wearing the fur next the skin. 

While travelling in a low temperature a large part 
of the moisture given off by the body condenses 
in the clothing. By removing all garments worn dur- 
ing the day on entering the bag — another Esquimau 



220 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

practice — the sleeper will be warmer and the bag will 
not become charged with moisture so quickly. 

Mr Porter's fur suit, which was a trifle heavier than 
my own but might stand as a fair average, weighed as 
follows : 

Reindeerskin trousers 2} pounds 

shirt 2J " 

" stockings and shoes 2 J " 

mittens § 

Total 8 J pounds 

' With this fur was worn a thin wool union suit the weight 
of which was a pound and a half. The silk trousers 
weighed about three-quarters of a pound and the wind 
coat about one and a quarter pounds. 

While travelling over the Polar pack there is the 
necessity for being always ready for an immediate 
exit from the sleeping bag on account of the unstable 
condition of the ice. So to disrobe entirely before 
retiring would not be the safest thing to do. It would 
be well to have a separate sleeping suit of thin fur. 
The wearer would then always be ready to leave his 
sleeping bag or tent if an emergency arose without 
danger of freezing. I suggest that such a garment be 
made in one piece; — a sort of union suit — with stock- 
ings attached. 

Our woollens were furnished by Jaeger and by 
Morley of London. We had an abundant store and 
the majority of the party preferred them to the furs 
for field work. Wool garments were used by all of 
us when in camp as they were more easily cleaned than 
furs. The close skins would have been too warm for 
indoor wear. 



AN AFTERWORD 221 

The chief recommendations of the fur as a travelling 
suit are its warmth, lightness, and simplicity, and the 
ease with which it regulates the body's temperature. 

The proper construction is to have the shirt loose 
with an adjustable draw-string opening at the neck. 
The skin being almost impervious to wind prevents 
the escape of air warmed by the body. If the wearer 
becomes overheated and perspires unduly, the opening 
at the neck may be enlarged and the belt loosened or 
taken off and strapped underneath. The larger part 
of the moisture given off by the body thus escapes 
through the openings instead of condensing in the 
clothing as is the case when a wool suit is worn. A 
man dressed in woollens on a sledge journey has his 
clothing soaked with perspiration, the porous material 
allowing the moisture to come to the surface of the 
outermost garment where it quickly solidifies into hoar 
frost. The wet clothing robs the body of heat. This 
is particularly true if the sledge worker wears his damp 
garments in the sleeping bag. A garment of any mater- 
ial worn during the day becomes wet if slept in and 
thoroughly uncomfortable. 

It requires some courage and resolution to disrobe 
in a temperature of from thirty to fifty degrees be- 
low zero in a cold sleeping bag; but it is the safest and 
most comfortable thing to do in the long run. 

The worst possible order of dress in the Arctic is a 
heavy wool suit under furs. The fur soon becomes 
ruined by the excessive amount of moisture absorbed 
from the perspiration-soaked woollens. 

The first year of our sojourn in the north many of 
the men wore their furs over heavy Jaeger suits. No 



222 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

wonder that their fur shirts became moisture laden 
and froze stiff. 

It is a mistake to wear too much clothing of any sort 
on a sledge trip as it induces perspiration. During 
periods of labour a well-made fur suit with a silk 
wind coat should be sufficient in the very coldest 
temperatures. The fur coat should not be added ex- 
cept during halts. As may be seen, I am an advocate 
of furs and recommend their wear from the double 
standpoint of comfort and economy. The fur suit I 
wore on all the sledge trips of my two years' stay in the 
Arctic I left at Camp Ziegler in good condition on my 
departure from that point in July, 1905. A partial 
list of clothing furnished to each member of the Ex- 
pedition follows: 

Vodmal suit, coat and trousers 

One sheepskin jacket 

Two suits of medium weight underwear 

Two suits of heavy weight underwear, Jaeger 

Two pairs of heavy knitted drawers, Jaeger 

Two sweaters, Jaeger 

One Jaeger woollen vest 

Two pairs medium weight socks 

Five pairs heavy weight socks, Jaeger 

One pair long blue wads, woollen 

One pair long German stockings, woollen 

Three pairs long Jaeger stockings 

One pair horsehide mitts 

Two pairs fleece lined Jaeger mitts 

Two pairs felt lined Jaeger mitts 

Two pairs blue woollen mitts 

Two pairs long woollen mitts 

One woollen cap, Jaeger 

One camelshair cap, Jaeger 

One woollen comforter, Jaeger 

One pair police suspenders 

Web belt and knife 

One suit overalls 



AN AFTERWORD 223 

Two gray woollen shirts 

Two large camelshair blankets, Jaeger 

Two pairs felt boots 

One pair felt slippers, Jaeger 

One pair buckskin moccasins 

One pair sea boots 

One pair Samoyede boots, remade 

Fur clothing or fur sufficient for coat, shirt, trousers, and stockings 

was issued to each man, also silk trousers and wind coats or silk 

for same 
A sleeping bag and pair of goatshair sleeping socks were furnished 

to each man 
Additional clothing was furnished to each member according to his 

personal needs 
Oilskins and rubber boots were furnished to those needing them 

On every Polar expedition a generous supply of foot- 
wear should be carried, each member being required to 
bring two pairs of long hunting boots, a size larger than 
those usually worn, and several pairs of shoes, for use 
in summer when melting snows and running water 
make wet travelling. Buckskin moccasins, Finn schu, 
Esquimau winter boots, felt boots, and the Nor- 
wegian "Komager" should be provided in large num- 
bers in the expedition stores, for the way footwear 
disappears — particularly if the men are inclined to 
be careless — is most astonishing. 

Cotton canvas, wool cloth — close woven like the 
winter khaki furnished the U. S. Army — and Pongee 
silk for manufacture into clothing should be taken 
along. 

To secure the native tanned deerskins — which are 
preferable for Arctic work — the expedition ship would 
have to visit the Esquimau settlements before en- 
tering on her voyage proper. 

Hand sewing machines and a plentiful supply of 



224 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

pins, needles, thread, tapes, buttons, etc., should form 
part of the equipment. 

Sleeping Bags 

No sleeping arrangement on the trail affords so 
much comfort as the one-man sleeping bag made of 
the skin of the adult deer. It should taper down from 
the shoulders to the feet. A piece of soft skin sewed 
to the edge of the opening of the bag can be drawn 
close about the neck and shoulders, insuring warmth 
and comfort. I found that the one-piece flap in use 
on the bags when wet with escaping breath dropped 
down on the head and face of the sleeper almost suffo- 
cating him. To obviate this unpleasant experience, 
I devised a form of fastening which I liked better than 
any in use to date. I cut the overflap of my bag 
down the centre and instead of one flap I had two. 
To the cut edge of one I sewed a four inch strip of fur 
so that one flap overlapped the other. While one piece 
folded down in front of my face and neck the other 
fitted over my head. This arrangement permitted the 
entrance of fresh air and prevented the condensation 
of the exhalations in the bag. It also made entrance 
into the bag easier and saved weight, as that sort of 
flap could be made smaller. 

Tents 

Our tents of Pongee silk were small and pyramidal 
in shape and had floor coverings of khaki or light 
weight canvas. 



AN AFTERWORD 225 

First Officer Haven, to whom I explained the tent 
plan, volunteered to make the tents and constructed 
twelve of them during the first winter. They 
proved comfortable and strong and were used on 
all the sledge trips of 1904, some of them do- 
ing service until the departure for home in 1905. 
They were yi feet high and yi feet square at the 
base and weighed with khaki floors 8i pounds. 
Those with canvas floors weighed 13 pounds. The 
poles weighed 3 pounds and the pins for each tent 
one pound. Sleeping bags were always carried 
in the tents and rolled up with them when lashed 
on a sledge — the tent serving as a protection for the 
bags. 

Lighter material than that needed for large tents 
may be used with satisfactory results in the con- 
struction of small tents and so considerable weight 
may be saved. 

As a rule two men only occupied each of our little 
Pongee pyramids. While one of them put down or 
took up the tent his comrade cared for the dogs, and 
much time in pitching and breaking camp was 
saved. 

On his sledge journey the Duke of the Abruzzi 
carried the following weights in sleeping bags and 
tents : 

Two 3-man tents— complete weight 66 lbs. 

One 4-man tent — complete weight 46 " 

One 3-man sleeping bag and jackets 83 " 

One 3-man sleeping bag and jackets 86 *' 

One 4-man sleeping bag and jackets 112 " 



Total 10 men 393 lbs. 



226 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

For the same number of men our weights were as 
follows: 

Five 2-man tents, with poles and pins 87 lbs. 

Ten i-man sleeping bags, with blankets and sleeping 

socks 181 " 

Total 10 men 268 lbs. 

This was a saving of 125 pounds. Thirty pounds 
more could have been saved if we had been able to 
place khaki floors in all the tents; but we had run 
short of that material and were obliged to substitute 
canvas. 

One objection can be urged against the pyramid 
tent — under the pressure of wind, its walls curve in 
and constrict the interior space. To obviate this we 
attached guy ropes to the corners of the tents. They 
helped but there was still a loss of space on the wind- 
ward side. 

Profiting by the experience of 1904 the following 
year I designed a new form of two-man tent. Its 
base, a seven-foot square reaching three feet above 
the ground, was surmounted by a rather flat pyramidal 
peak. The whole structure was raised on one pole. 
The floor was smaller each way by six inches than 
the other tents but the increased wall space gave a 
roomier interior. An adjustable opening at the peak 
allowing the escape of all cooking vapours and a door 
with a draw-string opening were other improvements. 
The entrance to a tent is a very important feature. 
Many devices were tried for closing the opening through 
which we went in and out. At last I adopted the 
following plan: A three foot circle was cut in the wall, 




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"BILLY" AND "LOUISE," PASSENGERS ON THE S. Y. "TERRA NOVA" ON HER 
HOiMEWARD VOYAGE 



AN AFTERWORD 227 

to the edge of which a strip of the Pongee silk about 
two feet wide was sewn. A draw-string was then 
run through a hem on the other side of this strip. On 
entering the tent a pull at the draw-string and the 
door was made fast. The ends of the cord were then 
tied around the bunch of silk — a task not so delicate 
but it could be performed with mittened hands — and 
our door was locked and we were safe from the blasts 
and snow that whirled and drifted on the other side of 
our little pyramid. 

Sledges 

The dog sledges we used were constructed of second 
growth American hickory on a modification of the 
plan advised by Admiral Melville and in the two years 
not one sledge broke down through fault of design. I 
do not recall a single stanchion broken or a runner 
turned under. The material of which the runners 
were made gave way on the trip north in 1904 on ac- 
count of bad ice conditions and improper placing of 
loads. In loading a sledge for travel through rough 
and hummocky ice care should be exercised that no 
heavy weights rest on or forward of the first stan- 
chion. A load so placed will deprive the sledge of 
elasticity in the forward end — the part that receives 
all the heavy blows, and the front bows and curves of 
the runners will break — our own experience in March, 
1904. 

I made the mistake of shoeing the runners with 
lignum vitae from observation of its splendid wear- 
ing qualities on some sledges of the expedition of 
1 90 1-2. I could not purchase the wood in strips 



228 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

long enough for the entire length of the runners 
and it had to be spliced on in two sections. This 
weakened the runners. During the winter of 1904-5, 
I had all the lignum vitse taken off and hick- 
ory put in its place. The sledges then proved wonder- 
ful in their powers of resistance and were in the field 
from March to July 1905 without breaking. The 
hickory of which the sledges were built was chosen in 
the tree while growing on dry hilltops, as such wood 
is tougher than that grown in moist low soil. T. A. 
Cook of Callicoon, N. Y., built our sixty sledges during 
the spring of 1903 and shipped them in sections to 
the America. We put them together aboard ship and 
at Camp Abruzzi, where the joints were lashed with 
raw-hide. 

In cold weather the wooden runners go smoothly 
and are better than metal on the hard snow; but 
for summer and fall work, when the surface of the 
ice and snow is wet, the wooden runners drag hard. 
I would suggest that the explorer carry extra runners 
of phosphor bronze or aluminum bronze, the edges of 
which could be turned up so as to slip over the wooden 
runners when needed. 

Captain Cagni and Doctor Nansen provided metal 
shoes to their sledge runners and wooden underrun- 
ners were lashed on. These underrunners gave trouble 
when the lashings wore off and the weight of the 
sledges was increased by the metal. Only a few of the 
sledges can return from a long Polar dash so it is not 
necessary to have them all metal shod. The special 
form of sledge for use with the ponies I have already 
described under another heading. 



AN AFTERWORD 229 

Boats 

A serviceable boat is an absolute necessity on a Polar 
dash, particularly so on the return journey. We had 
two canoes of five sections each and a number of two- 
man and one-man canvas kayaks all of which were 
used. The sectional canoes weighed 250 pounds each, 
entirely too much for northern sledge work. Kayaks 
are easily injured and are not adapted for carrying 
heavy loads. My idea of a serviceable Arctic boat is a 
strong elastic frame made of many thin small ribs of 
tough wood covered with canvas or thin aluminum 
and silk and thickly coated with marine varnish. We 
built such a craft at Camp Abruzzi in 1905. It was 
covered with canvas and weighed when completed 
ninety-one pounds. It was large enough for two men 
and could carry a heavy load in addition. The canoe 
had two covered compartments, one fore, the other aft. 
The man-holes to these compartments were covered 
with hinged canvas hatches that fitted tightly over 
combings and were held down with one little toggle 
each. I kept instruments and cooking untensils in 
these covered places which proved a great convenience 
on the sledge trip. A mast and sail, three paddles, 
two cane seats, a pump, and two harpoons and lines 
were provided for the craft. Wooden sheathing is 
not advised for a light boat as it is too easily injured 
in the rough ice while on the sledge and is difficult to 
repair. 

Cooking Apparatus 

Like Doctor Nansen and Captain Cagni I found the 
Primus the best form of petroleum burner for Arctic 



230 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

use. We also used the Khotal burner, made and sold 
as an improvement on the Primus. As long as the 
temperature did not fall lower than twenty degrees 
below zero, the Khotal worked well and was easily 
regulated. But in extremely low temperatures the 
valves would sometimes leak and we were obliged to 
take the burners apart for repairs. Instead of replen- 
ishing the oil in the tank permanently attached to a 
Primus burner by pouring through a funnel from other 
oil tanks — to which cold and troublesome operation 
is added the danger of spilling the precious fluid — 
a good plan would be to have all the petroleum tanks 
carried on the sledges arranged with screw threads 
so that burners and air pumps could be screwed on. 
Then when the oil became exhausted in a tank it 
might be thrown away, the burner and pump having 
been first unscrewed and attached to a full tank. 

Our cooking untensils were of pressed aluminum, 
which proved admirable for the purpose. 

Arms 

A modern military arm of simple construction built 
for hard usage is the best weapon for a sledge journey. 
We carried the Mannlicher carbine of eight mm. calibre. 
It has a very simple bolt action for the breech and 
can be taken apart and put together in a few minutes. 
The rifle proved a strong and accurate shooter. It 
loads with a clip of five cartridges. By taking one of 
the cartridges out of the clip the magazine of the 
weapon can be kept loaded with the barrel of the piece 
empty and harmless. Each rifle was placed in a case 
of canvas and leather to keep out the snow. I had a 



AN AFTERWORD 231 

little pocket of canvas sewed on the outside of the case 
in which a full clip of ammunition was always carried. 
Thus with the charges in the magazine there were nine 
rounds of ammunition ready for use with each rifle. 
These clips could be handled with the mittened hands 
—another recommendation. The rest of the am- 
munition was kept packed away in one of the com- 
partments of the canoe. We also carried 12-guage 
double-barrelled shot guns on our sledge trips. But 
it was always a question to me whether it was not a 
needless weight on our sledges. I believe a very light 
twenty-two calibre rifle or pistol would be more effec- 
tive for killing fowls, as they are usually shot when 
swimming in a pool or sitting on the rocks where they 
nest. A hundred rounds of twenty-two cal. ammuni- 
tion would not weigh more than a few rounds of twelve 
guage and the rifle would be lighter than the shot gun 
and more accurate and effective at long range. 
Combined rifles and shot guns are not recommended 
because of their very delicate construction. 

Navigation Instruments 

For determination of position a light strong theo- 
dolite should be carried, so arranged that it could be 
attached to the tripod before being removed from its- 
case. This could be accomplished by having the 
instrument permanently attached to the bottom 
board of the case with its levelling screws, etc., above.. 
After screwing the bottom board to the tripod the upper 
part of the case could be removed leaving the instru- 
ment clear and ready for use. This could all be done 
with the mittened hands which would prevent many 



232 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

a frost bite. A light sextant should also be carried 
for use when travelling by boat. Odometers are of 
very little use on the sea ice for the trail is usually so 
zigzag and so many miles are made out of the required 
direction that their readings would be misleading. 
It would also be almost impossible to build an odom- 
eter that would last longer than two or three days 
on the rough ice. 

Personnel 

Most important of all to an explorer who essays the 
leadership of an Arctic expedition, is good material 
in the personnel of his party. The Arctic is a field 
that will try to the utmost men's souls. Many a man 
who is a " jolly good fellow" in congenial surroundings 
will become impatient, selfish, and mean when obliged 
to sacrifice his comfort, curb his desires, and work 
hard in what seems a losing fight. The first considera- 
tion in the choice of men for a Polar campaign should 
be their moral quality. Next should come mental 
and physical powers. If possible a leader should take 
his candidates for Polar work on a two months' journey 
in the mountains the winter before leaving civilisation. 
The trip should be made purposely hard. It would 
be a good plan to go without food one or two days at 
a time so as to thoroughly test the endurance and tem- 
per of the men. The man that shows the slightest 
inclination under the test to find fault or complain 
should be discharged. Even after the expedition party 
is complete, and the ship ready to sail, should any one 
of the party (no matter how valuable he may seem at 
the time!) give evidence of dissatisfaction he should 



AN AFTERWORD 233 

be sent home. The same disposition should be made 
of any who show a tendency to question orders. 

The assistants should be young, for as men grow 
older they become overcautious. They should be of 
good personal habits and not addicted to the use of 
either tobacco or strong drink. The men should be 
paid a fair salary in return for their work, and should 
express themselves as perfectly satisfied with the 
amount on signing to go with the expedition. A sum 
of money sufficient to cover all expenses should be 
placed in a bank at the disposal of the leader or his* 
representative on the return of the expedition. 

The men should look to the leader of the expedition 
for everything. 

There are two methods of government. One is the 
Paternal where the leader is King and keeps himself 
separate from his men issuing his orders through an 
Executive Officer; the other is of a rather demo- 
cratic form, the leader taking the attitude of a friend 
among friends, joining with them in work and play, 
and depending entirely upon their sense of honour and 
gentlemanly deportment for obedience and success. 
To the man who believes in the Golden Rule the latter 
appears not only the true Christian method but also 
seems to offer the best chance of success. It is quite 
possible, however, for a leader who began his campaign 
in the optimistic confidence that leaden instincts 
would somehow wind up in golden acts to end by tak- 
ing an entirely opposite position. The Arctic is no 
Utopia! Alas for human nature! In its present 
unregenerate state, the "brotherly love" plan — how- 
ever desirable — is apt to fail. 



234 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

The leader of an expedition could do no better than 
have one of two officers of known ability for assistants, 
the rest of his party being forecastle hands or men oc- 
cupying the same relative position toward him as the 
crew to the Master of a ship, or privates in a military 
organisation to their Commanding Officer. 

The Executive Officer and Second in Command 
should be responsible for no duty other than the exec- 
utive work of the expedition. He should be a man 
of action and of few words. The scientists should be 
enlisted men as on the Greely Expedition and be given 
special opportunities for work. A scientist interested 
in his work is a valuable member of an expedition and 
should be relieved as far as possible from other duties. 

In Arctic research — as in all undertakings — Chris- 
tian character is the chief desideratum. The Polar 
field is a great testing ground. Those who pass 
through winters of darkness and days of trial above 
the circle of ice know better than others the weak- 
nesses of human nature and their own insufficiencies. 
They learn to be more tolerant of the mistakes of others 
and read more understanding^ the words of the great 
Master of Life. 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX NO. I. 

FORMATION OF THE SLEDGE PARTIES IN THE 
THREE ATTEMPTS NORTH 1904-1905 



FIRST SLEDGE PARTY NORTH 

March 7th-nth, 1904 
2 6 men; 16 ponies, 16 sledges; 117 dogs, 9 sledges 

Main Column 

Reserve 1st Support 2nd Support Advance 

4 men 8 men 8 men 6 men 

1 pony sledge 4 pony sledges 6 pony sledges 5 pony sledges 

1 dog sledge 1 dog sledge 5 dog sledges 6 dog sledges 

Reserve — 4 men, 1 pony sledge, 1 dog sledge. 
a Days' rations for 26 men, 16 ponies, 117 dogs. Four men to return 
after 2 days' advance from land; 5 days' rations for return 
of 4 men, 1 pony, 9 dogs. 

First Support — 8 men, 4 pony sledges (2 ponies to be used for 
food), 1 dog sledge (dog team to return). 
6 Days' rations for 22 men, 15 ponies, 108 dogs (12 teams). Eight 
men to return after 8 days' advance from land; 10 days' 
rations for return of 8 men, 2 ponies, 9 dogs. 

Second Support — 8 men, 6 pony sledges (ponies to be used for 

food), s dog sledges. 

16 Days' rations for advance of 1 4 men, 11 ponies, 99 dogs. Eight men 

to return after 24 days' march north; 26 days' rations for 

return of 8 men, 5 dog teams (provision made for return of 

the ponies in place of dogs if necessary). 

Advance — 6 men, 6 dog sledge teams, 5 pony sledge teams. 

8a Days' rations for advance and return of 6 men. Ponies and 4 dog 

teams to be used for food. (The dogs had not been figured 

in as food and would mean so many extra pounds dog food. 

The final party could remain out 120 days without danger.) 

106 Days 

237 



238 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



SECOND SLEDGE PARTY 

March 25th-27th, 1904 
14 men, 7 pony sledges, 9 dog sledges 

1st Support 2nd Support 3rd Support Advance 

4 men 3 men 2 men 5 men 

First Support — 4 men, 1 pony sledge "G", 2 dog sledges No.i, No. 2 
4 Days' rations for 14 men, 9 dog teams, 7 ponies. Four men to return 
after 4 days' march north; 10 days' rations for return of 4 
men, 2 dog teams, 1 pony. 

Second Support — 3 men, 1 pony sledge "A", 1 dog sledge No. 3. 
4 Days' rations for advance of 10 men, 7 dog teams, 6 ponies (ponies 
to be used as food as loads disappear). Three men to return 
after 8 days' march north ; 1 4 days' rations for return of 3 men, 
9 dogs. 

Third Support — 2 men, 4 pony sledges "B", "C", "D", "E" 
(ponies to be used for food), 1 dog sledge No. 9. 
19 Days' rations for advance of 7 men, 6 dog teams, 5 ponies. Two men 
to return after 27 days' march north; 30 days' rations for re- 
turn of 2 men; 25 days' rations for return of 9 dogs. 

Advance — 5 men, 5 dog teams, 1 pony sledge. 
53 Days' rations for advance and return of 5 men, 5 dog teams, 1 pony, 
with the possibility, if occasion demanded, of reducing size of 
party on return of 3rd support to 3 men, and increasing the 
time limit. 

80 Days 



APPENDICES 



239 



THIRD SLEDGE PARTY NORTH 

March i6th-ApRiL 1, 1905 

First Support— 2 men, 9 dogs, 1 sledge "Y." 
1 Day's rations for 10 men and 59 dogs. Three days' rations for return 
to camp of two men and one dog team. 

Equipment — 

Sledge 80 lbs. 

Tent with equipment and two sleeping bags 60 

1 Oooker filled with oil 20 

Can of petroleum, 5 quarts 14 

Hatchet 2 

Clothing bag 25 

6 Signal poles and flags 20 

Rifle, ammunition, etc 25 



Food- 
Sausages, Erbswurst 9 

Emergency ration 7 

6 Tins of condensed coffee 6 

1 Bag of bread 15 

6 2-lb. Cakesof pemmican 12 

Meat chocolate 3 

Compressed tea 1 

1 Bag sugar 2 

Butter 5 

8 Squares Lazenbury's soups 2 



246 lbs. 



lbs. 



62 lbs. 



Dog pemmican 70 



Total weight 378 lbs. 



Second Support — 2 men, 1 dog team, 7 dogs and sledge. 
2 Days' rations for the advance of 8 men and 50 dogs. Five 
rations for return of two men and one dog team. 

Equipment — 

Sledge "X", weight 78 lbs. 

2 Man kayak and paddles 82 

Picket chain 3 

Tent, 2 sleeping bags, etc 60 

Cooker and equipment 20 

Rifle and ammunition 10 

Clothing 25 



days' 



278 lbs. 



2 4 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Food, 4 bags containing each — 

Pemmican 4 lbs. 

Pork and bean biscuit 2 " 

Bread 2 " 

2 Erbswurst sausages 1} " 

Cracked wheat 2 " 

Sugar 1 " 

Milk (condensed) 2 " 

Butter 1 " 

Coffee 1 " 

72$ lbs. 

One bag for return of party — 

Pemmican 12 lbs. 

Pork and bean biscuit 4 " 

Bread 6 " 

6 Erbswurst sausages 5 " 

4 Tins of cracked wheat 4 " 

1 Tin of bovril red ration 1 " 

Sugar 2 " 

Butter 2 " 

Condensed milk 1 " 

Coffee 1 " 

Tea } " 

41 i lbs. 

1 Tin alcohol 4} lbs. 

1 Tin petroleum 14 " 

Dog food for advance H3i " 

return 40 " 

172 lbs. 

Total weight 564! lbs. 

Third Support — 4 men, 2 teams of 8 dogs each, and 2 sledges. 
5 Days' food for advance of 6 men and 43 dogs. Ten days' rations for 
return of 4 men and 2 dog teams to Camp Abruzzi. 

Sledge "A" 
Equipment — 

Sledge"A" 84 lbs. 

2 Man kayak and paddles 82 " 

Tent, 2 sleeping bags, etc 60 " 

Ice pick, No. 8 4 " 

Cooker and equipment 18 " 

Theodolite and tripod 20 " 

Clothing and repair kit 30 " 

298 lbs. 



APPENDICES 



241 



Food, 3 bags containing each — 

Pemmican 8 

Pork and bean biscuit 5 

Bread 5 

Sausage 2 

U. S. A. emergency ration 3 

Erbswurst 2 

Bovril red ration 1 

Butter 2 

Onions 1 

Borden's coffee 2 

Tea i 

Chocolate 1 2 

Milk 2 



lbs. 



Tin petroleum 24 lbs. 

" alcohol 4$ " 

Dogfood 153 " 



iiSjlbs. 



181} lbs. 



Total weight 594! lbs. 



Sledge "B" 
Equipment — 

Sledge "B" 85 

1 Man kayak and paddles 65 

Tent, sleeping bag, etc 60 

Cooker and equipment 18 

Rifle and ammunition 10 

Shovel (steel) 2 J 

Picket line 3 

Clothing 30 



lbs. 



Food for return, 2 bags containing each — 

Pemmican 10 

Sausage 3 

U. S. A. emergency ration 3 



273jlbs. 



lbs. 



Erbswurst 

Red ration 

Sugar 

Butter 

Onions 

Tea 

Borden's coffee 

Milk 

Chocolate 



3 

1 

2 
1 
i 



88J lba 



242 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Pork and bean biscuit 6 lbs. 

Bread 6 " 

Pemmican 211J " 

223 J lbs. 



Total weight 585! lbs. 

Advance — 
100 Days' Rations for 2 men, 3 dog teams of 9 dogs each, 3 sledges. 

Sledge No. 1 
Equipment — 

Sledge No. 1 86 lbs. 

Icepick 4 J " 

Small shovel (steel) 2$ " 

Canvas cover over load and lashing 7 " 

Picket line 2| 



Food, 3 bags containing each — 

Pemmican 10 lbs. 

Erbswurst sausages 5 " 

U. S. A. emergency ration 2 " 

Bovril red ration ij '• 

Onions J " 

Tea 6 ozs. 

Borden's coffee 2 lbs. 

Sugar 2 

Milk 2 

Butter 1 

" (peanut) 1 

Chocolate 2 



1 02 J lbs. 



88J lbs. 



3 Bags pork and bean biscuit 22J lbs. 

3 " bread 19 J " 

I Bag sausage 5 " 

Cornmeal 2 " 

Cranberries 2 " 

Extract beef 1 " 

Ground coffee ij " 

II Blocks pemmican 154 " 

10 " 150 " 

1 Tin petroleum 24 " 

1 " alcohol 4$ 



■ 385! lbs. 



Total weight 577 j lbs. 



APPENDICES 



243 



Sledge No. 2 
Equipment — 

SledgeNo. 2 85 lbs. 

Picket line 2 J 

Clothing bag (belonging to 3rd support) 15 

Tent, sleeping bag, etc 60 

Rifle and case 9 

Pair snow shoes 3 

Canvas cover for load 7 

Ropes, etc 4 

Ice ax 3 

Harpoon 1 

Thermometer, case, etc 5 J 



195 lbs. 



Food— 

Pemmican 175 lbs. 

Erbswurst 23J 

Pork and bean biscuit 35 

Swedish bread 30 

U. S. A. emergency ration 10 

Bovril red ration 5 

Sugar 16 

Butter 8 

" (peanut) 8 

Onions (evaporated) 3 

Flour 3 

Cornmeal 3 

Tea 1 J 

Borden's coffee 8 

Chocolate 12 

Milk 2 

Horlick's malted milk 2 

Cranberries 2 

Extract beef 2 

Sausage 5 

Pati* de f oi 5 

Salt 1 



■372 Jibs- 



Petroleum 23 J 



Total weight 590 J lbs. 



244 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

Equipment— Sledge No. 3 

SledgeNo.3 85 lbs. 

Oanoe 91 " 

Rifle and shot gun 17 " 

Ammunition — 150 rounds 8 mm nj " 

" 100 rounds 12 guage 12} '' 

Sail, harpoon, and line 4 " 

Pump 1 " 

Can Rubberine for repairing 2 " 

3 paddles 7 " 

Picket line 2 J " 

Bag with ephemeris, etc 4 J " 

Clothing 10} " 

Medicine case, barometer, compass 10} " 

Camera 4 J " 

Repair outfit and photo films 11} " 

Sextant and artificial horizon 11 J " 

Cooker and fry-pan 13 " 

Spare clothing . , 18 " 

Food— 317} lbs. 

7 Tins pemmican 140 lbs. 

Bag pork and bean biscuit 21 " 

2 Bags bread 27 " 

Sausage 5 " 

Lazenbury's soups 5 " 

Emergency rations in tins 6 J " 

" " bag 6 " 

Butter 8 " 

Onions 2 " 

Flour 5 " 

Oatmeal 5 " 

Tea a " 

Borden's cofiee 4 " 

Chocolate 7 " 

Cranberries 3 " 

Extract beef 1 " 

Evaporated eggs 1 " 

Extract coffee 1 " 

Horlick's malted milk 1 " 

Condensed milk 3 " 

Salt 1 " 

Sugar 11 " 

265} lbs. 



Total weight 583$ lbs. 



APPENDIX NO. II. 

REPORT OF SCIENTIFIC WORK DONE ON THE ZIEGLER POLAR 
EXPEDITION 1903-1904. 

[The following report was presented to me at Camp Abruzzi by Mr. 
W.J. Peters before our third sledge journey north. Considerable work 
was accomplished after that time, and the full scientific record is pub- 
lished in a separate volume under the auspicies of the National Geographic 
Magazine of Washington, D. 0. Anthony Fiala. 

Sir: Camp Abruzzi, Feb. 5, 1905. 

The action of the National Geographic Society 
selecting a representative to the Ziegler Polar Ex- 
pedition was followed by the appointing of a Com- 
mittee of research to consider the possibilities of scien- 
tific work to be executed under the direction of its 
representative. The Chairman of this committee, Prof. 
G. K. Gilbert, submitted a plan of work to the Presi- 
dent of the Society from which the pertinent matter 
is copied as follows: 

GRAVITY 

" It is recommended that a determination of gravity 
be made by Pendulum observations at the winter camp. 
With the assistance of Mr. Hayford and other officers 
of the Coast Survey Mr. Peters is now making prep- 
aration for that work. 

TIDES 

"It is recommended that systematic tidal observa- 
tions be made at the base camp, a continuous record 

24s 



246 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

being maintained through a complete lunation and so 
much longer as may be necessary to eliminate any 
irregularities occasioned by storms. For this work 
Mr. Peters is receiving instructions from Doctor Har- 
ris of the United States Coast Survey. 

MAGNETISM 

"It is recommended that systematic observations of 
the usual magnetic elements be made at the base camp. 
It is important that the declination be observed if 
possible at some point where a previous record has 
been made, and also that the magnetic station of the 
present Expedition be definitely marked and recorded 
so that at any future time it may be possible to reoccupy 
the station. The determination of declination will 
have immediate importance in connection with the main 
purpose of the Expedition, because if the Pole is ap- 
proached the compass will afford the most trustworthy 
means for orientation and for the determination of 
the proper route to be followed in returning. Con- 
versely, the traverse of the journey on the ice taken 
in connection with astronomic observations, will throw 
light on the position and curvature of the magnetic 
meridians in the Polar region, a field of inquiry which 
has heretofore been occupied only in a theoretic way. 

AURORA 

"In connection with systematic magnetic work it is 
desirable to make systematic observation of auroras, 
recording phenomena with some fulness. The ques- 
tion whether the aurora is ever accompanied by sound 
is one to which attention may well be given. 

METEOROLOGY 

"It is the opinion of Professor Moore that in the pres- 
ent state of meteorologic investigation the regular 



APPENDICES 247 

observation at Franz Josef Land of pressure, temper- 
ature, and surface wind, while desirable, is less 
important than the determination of the height, drift, 
and velocity of clouds. Professor Moore has under- 
taken to prepare instructions for such a determination. 

SEA-DEPTH 

"In the judgment of Admiral Melville it is very desir- 
able that soundings be made on the northward jour- 
ney, especially as the results of such soundings on the 
outward journey may aid in the determination of 
position during the return journey. They will of 
course make contribution to the general body of geo- 
graphic information, and supplement the important 
determinations made by Nansen. Whether it will 
be practicable to carry on the sledges any apparatus 
adequate to reach considerable depth is a question 
which may advantageously be considered on ship- 
board. 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

"It is not recommended that any special preparation 
be made for observations in geology, zoology, or botany, 
although the geologist will welcome samples of pre- 
vailing rocks, and especially any fossils which may 
be found, and the zoologist will be glad to have records 
of birds and mammals seen, so far as the members of 
the party may be able to identify them." 

PENDULUM OBSERVATIONS 

In regard to pendulum observations. The appara- 
tus taken on the previous expedition was sent back 
to Washington to be repaired and tested, but its 
late arrival did not allow sufficient time, so the in- 
strument was not taken. 



248 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

TIDES 

An attempt to register tides was made in October 
1903 at the ship's winter quarters, no nearer place 
being available owing to the thickness of the ice. The 
gale of October 2 2d and the subsequent pressure 
which destroyed the ship frustrated this plan. 

Observations commenced April 1, 1904, at Camp 
Abruzzi. These observations were taken by Mr. Long 
and Mr. Stewart until April 30, when Mr. Long left 
to return south. Prom this date to the close they were 
taken by Mr. Stewart, Mr. Tafel, Mr. Vedoe, and my- 
self. 

As the season advanced the disintegration of the ice 
revealed a strong current close to shore which may 
have produced flexure in the wire attached to the sin- 
ker. I think it therefore very desirable to obtain an- 
other month's observation in the coming spring with 
a special view to guard against this effect. 

Mr. Long was instructed to establish a gauge at 
Cape Flora and there resume observations. This he 
did with very satisfactory results, and was assisted by 
members of the expedition of whose names I have no 
record. The observations at Cape Flora extend over 
several months and were discontinued upon my arrival 
September 1. 

MAGNETISM 

Upon the completion of the magnetic hut September 
23, 1903, which was delayed by the necessity of imme- 
diately constructing living quarters for the fast ap- 
proaching winter, observation for declination were made 



APPENDICES 249 

with but few interruptions up to my departure from 
Camp Abruzzi in July 1904. The scheme arranged by 
Mr. L. A. Bauer, Magnetician of the U. S. C. & G. Survey 
was followed. The severe blizzards of the winter caused 
several breaks in the continuity of intensity and dip 
observations. The declination observations were prin- 
cipally by Mr. Tafel and myself, assisted later in the 
season by Mr. Vedoe. Doctor Newcomb continued 
observations during the short absence of these observers 
on journey north. 

In the early part of July 1904 the instruments were 
carefully packed in their cases and original shipping 
boxes and taken south in order to observe at Cape 
Flora and then ship them to Washington. : , Trans- 
portation to Eaton Island was effected by canoe. Fur- 
ther transportation being impossible the instruments 
were carefully cached on the island together with the 
records. 

An unsuccessful attempt to reach the island again 
was made on my return to Camp Abruzzi. 

I cannot praise too highly the brave perseverance 
of Messrs. Tafel and Vedoe in facing the blizzards 
when the wind was often blowing at sixty miles or 
more per hour and the drifting snow and intense dark- 
ness made the walk to the hut, short as it was, quite 
unsafe. 

AURORA 

Observations of the aurora are meagre because of 
the prevailing stormy weather and because of the lack 
of observers sufficient to keep a continuous series. 
Some notes made in connection with the magnetic 



2 5 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

work and sketches made by yourself are available for 
publication. 

METEOROLOGY 

Before leaving Norway Mr. Francis Long had set up 
the instrument shelter house, anemometer, and single 
register aboard the steam yacht America, and imme- 
diately after commenced the meterological record. 
The barograph and thermograph were operating. 
This has been continued without interruption to 
date. 

On arriving at Teplitz Bay the instruments were in- 
stalled on land. The anemometer was set up on the 
astronomic observatory and the wind vane erected 
at the shelter house. 

Mr. Long left the station April 30, 1904, to return 
home. At Cape Flora he set up the thermometers, 
barometer, anemometer, and wind vane, and began a 
record which is to continue until the arrival of the 
Relief Ship. After his departure from Camp Abruzzi 
the weather observations were noted by Mr. Stewart. 

It has been found impracticable to use the nepho- 
scope during the winter on account of darkness and 
during the period of daylight on account of the lack 
of clouds of definite form. 

SEA-DEPTH 

The suggestions regarding soundings on the north- 
ward journey have been considered. It is now im- 
practicable to carry the necessary weight for such 
determinations. 



APPENDICES 251 

ASTRONOMIC OBSERVATIONS 

An observatory was built on the high land west of 
the house at Camp Abruzzi soon after our arrival in 
Teplitz Bay, 1903. A brick pier was erected inside on 
which was mounted the vertical circle loaned by the 
Christiania Observatory through the kindness of Pro- 
fessor Geelmuyden. Mr. Porter made observations 
for time throughout the winter of 1903-4. He made 
twenty-six observations of moon culminations. Some 
observations for latitude and anomalies in refraction 
were made but the number was restricted by weather 
conditions. 

On his departure time observations were made 
principally by myself until June when the instru- 
ment was taken down, packed in its case and an addi- 
tional covering of painted canvas was sewed over the 
whole. 

On my return to Camp Abruzzi in November, 1904, 
the circle was again mounted on the pier and ob- 
servations made for rating the chronometers. 

The chronometer and watch record was kept by Mr. 
Porter during his stay at Camp Abruzzi. Later it was 
kept by myself until I left when the record was dis- 
continued. The chronometers were wound by Mr. 
Stewart until my return to Camp Abruzzi when I 
commenced a new record. 

The chronometers have been running since leaving 
Trondhjem. 

During the winter of 1904-5 I have prepared an 
ephemeris of the sun for the coming summer in which 
I have been ably assisted by Doctor Seitz. 



252 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

On the way to Teplitz Bay in 1903 the limited time 
at our different landings and afterward our late ar- 
rival precluded any collection relating to the subjects 
under this head. 

During the summer of 1904 Mr. Porter verbally 
reported having seen Ptarmigan and having secured 
some specimens, also of having found coal. 

Some of the members of the expedition have col- 
lected mineralogical specimens, but nothing of scien- 
tific value, except possibly the fossils collected at Cape 
Flora. 

RECORDS AND INSTRUMENTS 

The weather records in duplicate together with the 
instruments are in the custody of Mr. Long excepting 
those at Camp Abruzzi. 

Astronomical records are in two books labelled re- 
spectively "Transits 1904" and "Repsold Circle, descrip- 
tion and constants." The Repsold circle remains 
mounted on the brick pier in the observatory and is 
protected from ice particles falling from the observa- 
tory roof by cardboard housing. 

Of the three sextants two are available for the sled 
journey. The index glass of the Cary sextant which 
was found to be unreliable was taken out to replace an 
imperfect one in the large K. & E. sextant. 

Of the fifteen watches four have defective winding 
mechanism. 

The magnetic records are to be found in thirty con- 
secutively numbered books labelled "Mag. dec." and 



APPENDICES 253 

on loose forms of the U. S. C. & G. Survey labelled 
"Oscillations," "Deflections," and "Dip." All mag- 
netic records are filed in a black tin box. 

The magnetometer and dip circle are securely packed 
in their cases and original shipping boxes and cached 
on Eaton Island. 

Chronometer and watch records are in two books 
labelled respectively " Chrono. errors and comparisons " 
and "Watch rates." 

A complete list of the instruments with their own- 
ership is found in book labelled "Instruments, Ziegler 
Polar Expedition 1903-4." 

This book also contains the record of distribution of 
instruments. 

In conclusion I would say that assistance has been 
cheerfully given by various members of the expedition 
and I take this opportunity of making grateful acknow- 
ledgments of many obligations. 

Very truly, 

To Mr. Anthony Fiala. W. J. Peters. 

Executive Report, May i to September 30, 1904 

Dear Sir: 

After your departure, May 1, for Cape Flora there 
remained at Camp Abruzzi, besides myself, Messrs. 
Porter, Tafel, Rilliet, A. Vedoe, J. Vedoe, and Stewart, 
of the Field Department, Mr. Hartt, Chief Engineer, 
Mr. Spencer, Steward, and five of the ship's company 
— Mackiernan, Tessem, Myhre, Meyer, and Perry. 

Mr. Porter left Camp Abruzzi May 9th to continue 



254 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

the survey begun in March and to connect it with the 
Astronomic Station at Teplitz Bay and also with Cape 
Flora. His party included -Mr. Rilliet, A. Vedoe, 
Spencer, and Mackiernan. The last two whom you 
expected to remain here, became discontented with 
the prospect, and could not be persuaded to remain. 

Meyer and Perry were detailed to assist Mr. Porter 
in altering his outfit. 

Mr. Hartt was engaged up to my departure on the 
conversion of one of the whale boats into a steam 
launch. In this work he was assisted at different times 
by Tessem and Perry. 

On May 4th Myhre and Tessem were reported sick. 
Myhre had a cough. They were assigned rooms in the 
main building where the remaining sailors were soon 
afterward quartered. 

On May 6th Myhre' s cough had disappeared but he 
had not recovered sufficiently to come to table for meals. 
Tessem had fully recovered by May 1 ith. On May 1 2 th 
Myhre was feeling better, but. weak, taking only liquid 
nourishment in bed. Apparently he was in no trouble 
and I could not get him to describe or locate any pain. 

On May 13th he was assisted out near the stove 
where he sat wrapped in blankets for half an hour or so, 
when he returned to bed apparently better. From 
this time on his mind wandered and he finally died at 
1.30 p. m., May 1 6th, apparently without pain. 

Tessem and Meyer immediately made a coffin and 
on May 18th Myhre' s body was placed in it and taken 
up to the Astronomic Observatory, where it remained 
until the burial on May 20th. 

Myhre' s grave consists of a large stone cairn on 



APPENDICES 255 

which is erected a cross bearing his name and date 
of demise. It is located on the high land west of the 
Astronomic Observatory overlooking Teplitz Bay. 

Myhre's room was cleaned and washed and his effects 
were searched for articles of either personal or intrinsic 
value. These few things were taken with me on my 
way south to turn over to you but on account of the 
difficulties of the last stages of the journey they were 
placed in the cache at Eaton Island. 

During May and June the party at Camp Abruzzi was 
variously employed and accomplished the following : 

The old galley was renovated and turned into a 
store room. A small cooking stove was set up in the 
large room where bench and cupboard and shelves 
were constructed for galley use. Snow was removed 
from around the house and runways were dug to carry 
off the water. Various articles of dress left in the 
different rooms were bagged, labelled, and stored in 
the tent. During this time the scientific observations 
were taken by myself, Messrs. Tafel, Vedoe, and Stewart, 
all of whom also cooked the meals. 

As the snow disappeared stores were recovered and 
promptly taken care of. Those not immediately 
needed were stored in a cache near the Astronomic 
Observatory. Two kayaks were repaired for imme- 
diate use and a large keel was attached to the sectional 
canoe so that it might be dragged over the ice with- 
out injury. 

The old storehouse adjoining the workshop and the 
one adjoining the old galley were torn down and sails 
which had been used for roofs were dried and stowed 
away. 



256 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

The Italian quarters were cleared of snow and the 
ice was penetrated at two or three places to the floor 
in the hope of finding coal. 

The first thaw occurred May 28th, but water did 
not appear in quantity until June 24th. On the 
morning of this day we awoke to find the machine and 
work shops flooded with a foot of water. This was 
drained off by ditching in the snow. Finding water 
in the horse and store tents we again resorted to ditch- 
ing. In fact the whole of that day was spent in drain- 
ing off the water, which persisted in avoiding the chan- 
nels we had constructed at an earlier date with con- 
siderable labour. On June 25th a great stream burst 
down the old horse trail which extends to Capes Saulen 
and Fligely. Coming with a roar it again filled the 
machine shop and old galley. This was at first led off 
by a deep cut in the snow bank, that stood on the south 
side of the old galley and afterward diverted above 
the machine shop into ditches leading to the Italian 
tent, in hopes that it would cut away the ice and dis- 
close the coal. 

In this our attempts were only partially successful. 
It was not until later in the season, when I had left, 
that the Italian quarters were fully exposed. 

On July 4th preparations to take Messrs. Tafel and 
Vedoe to Cape Flora were completed, but no oppor- 
tunity offered until July 8th when I sailed away with 
them in the portable canoe, leaving Mr. Hartt in charge. 
The voyage to Eaton Island was marked by the usual 
vicissitudes incident to travel by boat at this season 
of the year in the Polar regions, fogs, rains, windstorms, 
alternating with fine weather; long hours of utmost 




V<jw«i\« H- 



"A BLANKET OF THICK. DAMP. ARCTIC FOG OBSCURING THE VISION" 



APPENDICES 257 

exertion in paddling or hauling over the ice following 
days of enforced idleness. 

On August 4th we landed at Eaton Island, where on 
account of ice conditions no further progress with the 
load of instruments was possible. I waited here until 
August 24th for a favourable change in conditions. 
This not having taken place and the food supply re- 
duced to eight days' half rations, I made a cache of 
instruments and records and proceeded with party to 
Cape Flora, where I reported to you on Sept. 1st, hav- 
ing gained a day somewhere in my calendar. 

Very truly 

W. J. Peters. 

To Mr. Anthony Fiala. 

Camp Abruzzi, Feb. 5, 1905. 






APPENDIX NO. III. 

PORTER'S MARCH FROM CAPE FLORA TO CAMP ABRUZZI 

The orders of Mr. Fiala, issued to me at " The Tombs " 
in the fall of 1904, were to the effect that I join him at 
Camp Abruzzi by March 10th of the following year. 
This early rendezvous at a station some hundred and 
seventy miles away required my leaving Cape Flora by 
the 20th of February and this alone is reason for two 
men going forth into the night from a starvation 
camp. 

With considerable difficulty were my dogs carried 
through the winter. "Spot" disappeared in the fall; 
later "Tibus" ran foul of a bear, suffering an ugly 
tear to one of his hind legs. "Ostiak" was badly bit- 
ten by Bismark in January. In fact Bismark alone 
came through the night skin whole. The sailors at 
the log house were kind enough to allow the invalid 
dogs a chance to convalesce in an empty bunk and for 
the last month before starting I kept them chained up 
in the snow observatory fearing to lose some of them 
either in dog or bear fights. 

With the hauling power reduced to four dogs but 
one man could accompany me. The selection was 
made on the eve of our departure and fell to one of 
the firemen. Duncan Butland was a native of New- 
foundland, had spent a winter with the Esquimaux of 
Northern Greenland, and could take care of himself 

2 S 8 



APPENDICES 259 

in a tight place. We found the tight place later on 
and Duncan did not disappoint me. 

The loads came up to one hundred and twenty-five 
pounds to a dog, and while we took a silk tent along, 
we had experimented on building snow huts or igloos 
before starting, and thought they would be much the 
more comfortable to live in. We had to leave the 
kayak behind. 

The eighteenth of February found us saying good-by 
to some of the men at the little caboose where they had 
helped Duncan lash the loads and hitch up. A fresh 
wind from the south enveloped us in the drift and in a 
short time we were alone in the storm running along 
the shore toward Peace Point, the wind at our backs, 
dogs pulling well, and a keen sense of satisfaction that 
at last the dull life of inaction was broken, and there 
was a hard definite purpose ahead to work for. 

It was a short day's run as we were late in getting 
started and the twilight was only a few hours long. 
The sun had not returned and remained below the 
horizon even at noonday. The snow hut went up 
nicely and when the capstone was finally dropped into 
place, the joints between the blocks chinked up, and 
the interior cleared out we went inside with our sleep- 
ing bags and stove and felt at once that huge relief 
that comes in getting out of the wind. It is hard for 
one who has not travelled all day in those drift storms 
at low temperature to realise what this sense of shelter 
means. And we found that once the snow door was 
set in place one could hardly tell whether a storm was 
raging outside or not, so solid and tight this igloo 
proved to be. Then again you felt a certain sense of 



2 6o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

proprietorship in your new home and caught yourself 
admiring the way you made the snow blocks tip in 
over the dome to the capstone, or criticised this or that 
detail of its architecture. Duncan had told me that a tent 
was not in it with an igloo for comfort, and the first 
night's experience attested the fact. In fact the drift 
held us in our first hut the next two days and we fre- 
quently remarked how warm and quiet it was there 
in our dry bags, the yellow candle light transforming 
the snow vault into glistening marble. 

The drift went down the third night, the sky cleared, 
and a nearly full moon hung over the upturned shield 
of Bruce Island. We were not long in starting and 
found travelling by moonlight through the channel ice 
a weird and uncanny thing. By breakfast time Camp 
Point was rounded and we stood over " The Tombs. " 
The drifts of the winter had completely blotted out 
our settlement of the fall before. A bread tin only 
remained to mark the spot. By sounding the surface 
of the glacier the cavern below was located and a hole 
knocked in the roof, through which Duncan descended 
with the revolver, for we were not sure but the bears 
had taken up quarters there. 

Then I lowered the stove and food and fol- 
lowed and we had breakfast, the cold blue light shim- 
mering through the ice of the glacier, bringing up a 
clear vision of our long incarceration here in the fall. 
Everything was evidently just as it had been left ; the 
hay strewn over the floor, the improvised tin blubber 
lamps reposing in their niches in the wall. In the 
next room the roof had bulged in to such an extent 
that each block seemed hanging by itself. 



APPENDICES 261 

By one o'clock we were well out across DeBrayne 
Sound and going into camp, picking out a fine hard 
drift which had been formed during some big winter 
storm to the leeward of a large hummock. This was 
the twenty-first and we had made a good run. 

Washington's Birthday we completed the run 
across the Sound, finding it full of good heavy ice but 
always open stretches here and there that made pro- 
gress steady, though tortuous. Just before noon a 
blood-red spot appeared on the southern horizon and' 
moved slowly toward the west. I was ahead picking 
the course and shouted to Duncan, pointing to the sun. 
He vouchsafed only a wave of his arm in recognition 
of the event, then returned to the sled upstanders, 
guiding the sled in its erratic course among the pres- 
sures. I never saw him let go those upstanders once; 
he seemed glued to them. 

It was monotonous work relieved only by the thought 
that this sound, this Rubicon of the fall before, was 
being so easily crossed. Though clear overhead, fog 
covered Northbrook Island, so there was constant 
reference to the compass to keep us on our course. 
We travelled well into the night, wishing to make the 
land before camping, but were forced to camp among 
the pressures with our object unattained. And so 
tired were we, and so little light remained, we thought 
of the advantage of just setting up the tent and turn- 
ing in, instead of a weary hour and a half or two hours' 
work spent in building an igloo. 

It was a miserable night! It seemed as if we were 
no sooner asleep than the wind awakened us, the tent 
walls slatting, setting the air in the tent into violent 



262 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



motion, and chilling us to the bone so that further 
sleep was out of the question. The bags were already- 
wet with accumulated moisture. How we maligned 
the fate that found us in a silk tent with the worst wind 
yet ! How we longed for the cozy interior of the igloo, 
with its quiet and — yes, its warmth, for we had found 
that no matter what the temperature outside was, 
or how hard it was blowing, the inside of a snow hut 
remained up around zero and the air absolutely quiet. 

We hardly waited for sufficient daylight before we 
were out in the drift throwing up a hut, and felt well 
repaid when it was done and we were inside beating 
the snow out of our bear skin trousers. It was well 
the hut was built, for the drift kept us prisoners there 
for three days. When Duncan came in from feeding 
the dogs the last day he said: "I broke the alpine- 
stock to-night." "Well," I replied, "I can match 
that. The hatchet's gone: handle broke off square 
against the head." 

We burned a little extra candle that night trying 
to get the wood out of the hatchet head. I improved 
matters by shutting my clasp knife over the end of 
one of my fingers, nearly taking it off. Sometime 
in the night Duncan woke me up showing me the hatchet 
nicely fitted to a tent peg. 

I remember that night we discussed our prospects. 

"We've been out over a week now and over half 
our grub's gone (but ten days' food supplies were taken 
from Flora)." 

"Well," Duncan inquired, "how far is it before we 
can get some more?" 

" I should say forty miles." 



APPENDICES 263 

" And how far have we come?" 

"A little over thirty." 

"Oh we can make that all right. It's been bad 
weather." 

And so it had! — six days out of the eight. Cer- 
tainly no one had any business to be out in such wea- 
ther as this after six months starvation diet. It was 
just this weakness of the body that was worrying me 
and the hundred odd miles to Rudolph Island loomed 
up very big ahead of us. 

The next day we pulled out with clearing weather, 
a light head breeze frosting our faces and requiring 
frequent applications of melting snow to the affected 
parts. From this day on the temperatures were lost. 
The minimum thermometer was out of service, the 
column was separated and could not be united again 
until we reached Camp Ziegler. 

Looking over the dome of Hooker Island, as we 
passed through Mellenius Sound and by the towering 
rock of Rubini, past the summer camping ground of the 
surveying party the year before, I hesitated a moment. 
Should I cross the island over my old trail and cut off 
some two or three miles or stick to the shore and go 
around it, keeping on the bay ice? Perhaps the recall 
of an admonition of my father's years before, as I 
was just leaving for the Arctic, to " Keep off the 
Glaciers' ' decided me to hold to the latter course. We 
little imagined that there, up on the dome of the island, 
in the dusk of an October afternoon the fall before 
two men of our expedition had plunged into the bowels 
of the glacier. 

The day proved satisfactory, both overhead and 



264 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



under foot, and when the short daylight was gone 
found us in our snug hut perched on a snow terrace 
lying against the island and giving us a clear view 
down Allen Young Sound. We had done fairly well; 
were still behind our schedule, but thought that bet- 
ter weather was due us (it couldn't have been much 
worse, only two quiet days out of the week) and the 
going ought to improve. 

But good weather had not arrived to stay. The 
morning of the twenty-fifth was stormy, the drift comb- 
ing down over the slope behind us in a veritable snow 
fall. It had started in the previous night soon after 
camping. After breakfast Duncan went out to free 
the dogs and came in to say that he had hard work 
getting down to the stake line. So we let the poor 
animals come in to the igloo and they were soon busy 
cleaning their coats of the snow that had driven into 
them. They seemed to thoroughly appreciate the 
change, putting themselves on their good behaviour 
and giving us no trouble at all. These dogs had all 
been with me the year before and one of them, "Bis- 
mark," a powerful gray animal had been my constant 
companion on the previous expedition. 

It was around noon that misfortunes fell thick and 
fast. The alcohol stove refused to burn. The day- 
light, which filters through the walls of a snow hut, 
faded rapidly. The dark line of the drift outside was 
moving slowly up over the roof. "We'll wait until 
it gets up to there," and I pointed to a joint on the 
dome some two-thirds the way up, "then we get out." 
When it reached that point we broke through the roof 
and Duncan got on to my shoulders and forced his way 



APPENDICES 265 

through the drift. I handed out the dogs and fol- 
lowed. We went down among the heavy pressures 
at the ice foot and by nightfall had succeeded in throw- 
ing up another shelter. After that we returned to the 
submerged camp. Duncan descended and handed me 
everything there was in the igloo. It wasn't much, 
only our bags and a small bag of food and the rifle. 
While he was doing this there was an ominous slumping 
sound around the hut and I told him to catch hold of 
the rope and haul himself out. He said he was going 
to try to break through the side of the hut by the door, 
where he thought the harnesses were. After some time 
there came another slump and I ordered Duncan to 
come up or he would be buried. But he either did 
not or would not hear me, and when he passed out 
the four harnesses and came up after them, hand over 
hand, through the burrow, the fact of seeing him there 
alive again was one of unspeakable relief. Before 
leaving the place a skee was jammed into the roof of 
the hut and another, as a marker, set up farther down 
the terrace, and we groped our way to the new hut, 
hardly realising what had actually happened. 

There was no let up through the night and returning 
dawn found us criss-crossing the slope of the glacier, 
vainly searching for the old site. The terrace had 
disappeared. Not even the point of a skee protruded. 
The snow was showering down over the glacier, giv- 
ing out a sharp hissing sound. It was quite impossible 
to stand up against the stronger blasts, and so, after 
a minute or so, while we tried to yell to each other 
that it was no use, we returned to the shelter down by 
the ice foot, called the dogs in after us, closed up the 



266 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

door and warmed up some tea. And while we drank 
the tea we sized up the situation and took account of 
stock. 

"There's about four days food in this grub bag," 
I said, after counting the broken pieces of pea sausage 
and estimating the amount of crumbled up hard tack 
mixed in with a plentiful supply of bear and caribou 
hairs. 

Duncan lifted the alcohol stove and shook it. 

" Seems to be about half full, ' ' he commented. " Good 
for about two meals isn't it?" 

" Not more. " Then I let my eyes run over the rest 
of our belongings — sleeping bags, a small bag contain- 
ing a change of underwear and stockings, rifle, revolver, 
the mail bag, and a "diddy" bag. The "diddy" bag 
held our sewing kit and ammunition. 

" That's all, " I said despondently. " Sled gone, man 
food, dog food, fuel, skees, shovel — all gone. 

Duncan ventured that I had forgotten one thing. 

"What's that?" I asked. 

"The dogs." 

And sure enough, the old faithfuls that finally brought 
us through, our biggest assets, I had ignored entirely. 

" But there's no food for them, Duncan, and they 
can't work long in this temperature without food." 

Duncan's answer to this damper was that we had 
saved our guns and it was about time a bear showed 
up anyway. "And, " he went on, " If you're thinking 
of turning back to that hell at Cape Flora, I'll take 
chances and go on alone." He delivered this with 
more energy than I thought him capable of, and it was 
the first pleasant sound I had heard since the disaster. 




Drawn by R. IV. Porter 

" THE CUB WHEELED AND MADE STRAIGHT INTO THE SOUND, BUT ONLY A SHORT WAY 
WHEN HE CAME TUMBLING DOWN WITH BULLETS FROM BOTH RIFLE AND REVOLVER" 




Drawn by R. ft'. For 



BUILDING AN IGLOO 




a. 
as 

I 

a 




a 
j. 

' 
u- 

: 

H 

3 

ul 

a 
o 

a 

o 

1 
5 






APPENDICES 267 

"Well, Duncan, you won't lack company. I have 
no desire to take the back trail. Now it looks as though 
there were two other ways open to us — to wait here 
until the drift lets up and see if we can recover the 
sled. The top of that skee which I jammed into the 
igloo is fifteen feet above the sled if an inch, and the 
Lord knows how much more. And you can figure out 
for yourself how long it will take us, using the fry pan 
and that agateware plate, to dig down to it." 

" But we don't even know where to dig." 

"Then the only thing to do is to push on and take 
our chances. There's a cache of emergency rations on 
an island across Young Sound some twenty miles from 
here, or was, for I saw it landed there four years ago, 
but I have only a dim idea just where it was placed 
and it may be, probably is, buried under the snow. 
The next grub is as far again beyond there." 

And so we crawled into our bags and talked the rest 
of the day through, planning how we could best con- 
serve our precious hoard, how the sodden, saturated 
bags could be best tied up to offer the least resistance 
to the snow, for they must be dragged from now on. 

At dawn we were outside the hut, our gear laid out 
for inspection. The wind had gone down. While 
absorbed with the aggravating problem of the bags I 
looked up and saw two bears coming right in among 
the pressures in front of us. They were a mother 
and cub, and had sneaked in on us while we weren't 
looking. I jumped for my rifle and scared Duncan 
speechless by exploding into his ear, " Get your revol- 
ver." 

Duncan even then didn't see the bears and I can 



268 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

remember him, revolver in hand, eyes fairly popping 
out of his head, looking up and down the shore, up 
the glacier back of us, everywhere except right beside 
us where they were. 

Perhaps the bears took us for some animals good 
to eat. Surely we looked more like beasts then men 
in our bear skins, and with our long hair and grease 
covered faces. At sight of these bears the savage man 
rose dominant within me and in my hair and down my 
spine ran an indescribable prickling sensation and I 
knew why the hair on the wolf's back bristles when he 
hunts. 

On they came. The report of my Winchester rang 
out sharp and clear in the frosty air and the old bear 
fell not fifty feet away. The cub wheeled and made 
straight into the Sound but only got a short way when 
he came tumbling down with the bullets from both 
rifle and revolver. 

We didn't stop to argue on who shot that cub. As 
was common between Duncan and myself when greatly 
pleased at anything we gave vent to our feelings in 
the Esquimau tongue; there was a hearty handshake, 
and forthwith the two bears were skinned and cut up, 
the meat finally reposing under the two skins among 
some rocks by the shore close under the cliff. 

A big slice had already been cut out of the working 
day when we finally started. After much shifting, 
repacking, and relashing, the cumbersome burden of 
our paraphernalia was ready, the front of it bent up 
like the bow of a toboggan, guns, snow knife and snow 
saw dangling on top, dogs pulling from well down 
under the front. Between the bags was the dogs' 



APPENDICES 269 

food (thirty pounds of the bear meat, we couldn't 
carry more) and ours. For a hundred yards or so 
after getting clear of the pressure along shore, our 
bundle slid along very respectably. The wind coming 
off the island had blown the Sound ice free of snow. 
Sharp points of rubble protruded from this ice and 
soon made trouble, for, hearing a suspicious tearing 
sound, the bags were overturned and found already 
partly torn and wearing away. 

"This will never do," we both exclaimed at once; 
" we must save the bags. " 

But we could see no way of improving matters, and 
started again, one of us picking out a trail that be- 
came very snakey. 

All of a sudden we ran into deep snow. "Good" 
was our verdict this time. " The bags can stand this 
sort of going indefinitely," but in fifty feet the dogs 
came to a halt. We started the bundle and the dogs 
pulled it perhaps twenty feet and then stopped, and 
so on a few times more when they refused to pull at all. 

I knew my dogs and knew they would not act this 
way unless the resistance to their pulling force was 
really formidable. Those bags were half submerged 
in this snow that had evidently come with the last 
storm, and our skees were gone. 

" It is a case of making dogs out of ourselves, I guess, 
Duncan. One of us will have to get into harness and 
the other break a trail. We will change places from 
time to time." 

In this way progress became possible but that was 
about all. Up to dark I don't suppose we made two 
miles out in Young Sound, and when the igloo was 



270 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

up we were very, very tired. I wrote in my diary, 
" A rather discouraging day notwithstanding the bears." 
This was the last day of February. 

March first was one long drawn out three-mile drag, 
from early dawn when Duncan would prod and harass 
me into getting up and starting the stove, until night- 
fall in another hut three miles farther on. The snow 
had grown deeper and we were wading through it to 
our knees. The dogs could hardly get along at all 
and the leaders, "Tibus" and "Porridge," were con- 
tinually fighting for the chance to walk in the tracks 
of the trail breaker. When we reached Jefferson 
Island, a huge rock rising out of the middle of the 
Sound, we were about ready to give up. 

There was no drift, but it was the coldest day I ever 
experienced. Probably our exhaustion made the cold 
penetrate. Before the hut was done three of the 
fingers of my left hand were frozen and Duncan's face 
had a white patch on it as big as the palm of one's hand. 
It was touch and go whether we could finish the hut. 
But we did — we had to. 

Our bags by this time had become so saturated that 
they froze soon after we got out of them and in lashing 
up the bundle it meant quick work to get the end 
turned up while it was still limp. On the other hand 
our work was cut out for us : getting back into them 
again the next night, they were so hard and stiff. So 
the next morning after breakfast we made every- 
thing ready inside the hut, then Duncan went out and 
harnessed the dogs, the pull rope was passed in and 
tied to the bundle, I knocked two or three blocks out 
of the wall to get a clear way, and off we went. 




■ 



THE S.S. "MAGDALENA" 
TRIP TO THE NORTHEAST COAST OF GREENLAND 




THE TWO HOUSES ON BASS ROCK 





^ 



APPENDICES 271 

This camp by Jefferson Island we called Sun Camp 
for on that day we saw the whole of the sun for the 
first time in four months. We always named our 
camps, usually the day after when the history of the 
camp before had been made and some distinctive feat- 
ure could be given to it. Where we lost our outfit was 
"Camp Calamity," but after the bears showed up it 
was changed to " Salvation Camp" by mutual consent. 

The three miles on the second were in every respect 
like those of the two days just passed. Late in the 
afternoon we reached the shore of the island where I 
had seen food landed in 1901. 

" Keep a sharp lookout now, Duncan, right along 
this shore and not over a hundred feet away from it. 
Imagine boxes, yellow boxes. Get that fixed in your 
mind's eye and don't see anything else." 

Very soon I described something yellowish sticking 
up out of the snow and went over to it. A band of 
strap iron crossed it. No more than three inches of an 
emergency case was exposed to my view. I let out a 
yell. Duncan stopped hauling and came ploughing 
over. We kicked away some of the loose snow and 
then gave vent to several " penkshuas." The hut was 
built right there. 

While Duncan was under fitting his blocks and pas- 
sing them to me, he said, " Let's name this camp now." 

"All right, what shall it be?" 

"Thank God Camp." 

As the dome rose, ready for the capstone, I asked 
Duncan to go up on a neighbouring hill after a slab of 
stone, for I intended to try some of the wood from the 
emergency ration box for fuel. When he had gone I 



272 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

proceeded as usual to chink up the joints of the igloo, 
cut and fit the door. The dogs had gone inside to get 
out of the wind. Then I crawled up over the dome and 
started fitting the capstone, when the entire structure 
collapsed inward, myself with it, on top of the dogs. 

It was a sorry sight — so much hard labour all for 
naught and all to be done over again. I knew it would 
so depress Duncan that I had it pretty near finished 
again when he returned, carrying a broad, flat slab 
of red sandstone. 

I felt more like changing the name to " Calamity 
Camp" again when it tumbled in. But I suppose we 
ought to be thankful the dogs weren't hurt. 

We could not be downhearted, however, for there was 
food now aplenty. 

" We'll cook the rations over a wood fire, " I said. 
But somehow the wood refused to burn. We opened 
the vent in the roof, took the snow plugs out of the three 
peep holes in the walls, even opened the door, blew the 
embers until we were purple in the face: we coughed, 
tears ran down our faces, all to no avail. We were 
compelled to fire the whole thing out of the door. 

Duncan's resourcefulness came to the rescue. He 
overhauled the bear meat and managed to clean off 
about a plateful of the blubber. Taking a small strip 
of canvas, he rubbed it well into the grease, frayed one 
edge, and applied a match. Slowly the flame ran 
along the wick and the canvas placed along the edge 
of the plate, the pieces of fat nearly covering the canvas. 
It made a clear, hot flame five or six inches long and 
cooked us a most delicious stew of the newly acquired 
rations. 



APPENDICES 273 

"There's only enough fat left for breakfast," said 
Duncan as he gazed with an envious eye on what little 
remained, even after we had finished the second pot 
of stew. 

Before leaving "Thank God Camp" we carried 
three emergency ration cases, all we could find, back 
from the beach on to higher ground among some wind 
swept rocks. One of the cases had been opened and in 
an empty tin inside was a note from Mr. Peters dated 
October of the fall before, stating that his party at that 
time were all right but were having a pretty hard fight 
with the young treacherous ice floes. I took up this 
note, leaving a copy and left a message to whom it 
might concern, telling of our mishap and that we were 
trying to push through to Camp Ziegler: that my 
hands and Duncan's face were badly frozen and that 
we were pretty well pulled down. 

The following day the going was much better and 
much worse. For four miles, until we reached Cape 
Charles Beresford, the ice was swept smooth and 
glassy. The bags needed only one of us to guide them 
between the hummocks. We felt quite elated with 
this let up from the drag ropes when, on rounding the 
cape, we plunged into very soft snow that was deeper 
and softer than any yet encountered. We were the 
entire afternoon making less than a mile and acknow- 
ledged ourselves beaten. 

" But there's no snow here we can use for the igloo," 
said Duncan, probing the drifts with the murderous- 
looking snow saw. That saw was a savage instru- 
ment. It was a home-made affair about two feet 
long from a steel tank found at Flora, with teeth 



274 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



half an inch long, like a relic of barbarous or prehis- 
toric times. 

So we "hiked" at the dogs and slowly worked in 
toward shore again. In my exhaustion the lavender 
light, that floods the snowscape in this land when the 
sun returns, would suddenly strengthen to a deep pur- 
ple. Through it, as in a dream, I saw the mountains 
on the different islands rise and fall in perfect rhythm 
with my laborious strides. We changed places 
breaking trail every hundred feet and so made land. 

By dint of much teasing a pot of hot water was se- 
cured, burning a board from an emergency box, but 
it was completed in the dark somewhere around nine 
o'clock. Into the pot we crumpled pea sausages. 

Duncan was doing most of the lashing and unlash- 
ing now, for my left hand, now covered with blisters 
from the frosting two days before, was useless. About 
all I could do was to bounce on the bags as he drew the 
ropes tight. 

From where we had built the hut, some hundred 
feet up among the rocks, Alger Island, on which Camp 
Ziegler was situated, could have been seen had it been 
clear weather. During the night "Tibus" freed him 
self and tore down part of the door trying to join us 
inside. The other dogs, jealous of his freedom, woke 
us up with their infernal barking. 

The next morning, the fourth, the last remaining 
candle was cut up into four pieces. They were all 
lighted and the pot suspended over them — our last 
fuel. They looked very festive and made us think 
of Christmas trees and birthday cakes. They just 
about melted the snow and warmed the water. We 



APPENDICES 275 

literally used a part of our house for cooking. It was 
so easy, just to reach over with the snow knife, and 
with a twist of the wrist slice a cone of hard snow out 
of the wall and drop it into the pot. And when stop- 
ping in the same hut several days the walls became 
honeycombed. As Duncan remarked, "we were eat- 
ing ourselves out of house and home." 

We had lashed up, ready to harness the dogs, when 
on opening the door, the drift came pouring into the 
hut like flour. There was nothing to do but unfasten 
the load and crawl back into the frozen bags again. 
We lay there shivering all day. The worst had come. 
Stormbound and no fuel. 

"Duncan," I chattered along toward evening, "if 
ever I get out of this scrape alive, I'll make a bee line 
for the tropics and not go ten degrees north or south 
of the equator for the rest of my days." 

His only answer was, "New York for mine." 

Some time in the night after cudgeling my brains 
in vain I said, "Duncan, are you awake?" 

"Awake? how can one sleep on an empty stomach 
in this temperature?" 

" Can't you think of something we can use to burn? " 

"We ought to have brought more boards from the 
cache." 

I protested at this criticism saying we couldn't have 
pulled five pounds more through that deep snow if it 
had been a bag of diamonds. After some time he said : 

"There's your butter box." 

"By Jove!" I ejaculated, "you are right. It's 
just soaked with butter." 

We were at once all enthusiasm at the thought of 






276 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

something hot. The little box which had held my 
butter " Whack " or weekly ration through the winter 
at Flora was carefully chopped and whittled 
into suitable pieces. Strange to say it blazed up 
beautifully without suffocating us. And how good the 
hot food tasted and felt, notwithstanding the bear and 
deer hairs. 

Some time along in the early morning Tibus woke 
us up again, tearing down the door. It was drifting 
as hard as ever. 

" Let's let all the dogs in, Duncan, it may warm up 
the place a little." We didn't need to go out to 
release them. When the dogs saw the door open and 
Tibus disappear inside, they gave a frantic bound, tore 
up the stake chain and came at us "en masse," jam- 
ming themselves in the doorway in their eagerness 
to get out of the storm. 

Either the temperature outside rose or the dogs gave 
off an appreciable amount of heat. Certainly by after- 
noon our bags began thawing out and we fell asleep, 
awakening again about midnight craving food and 
water, principally water. Duncan had eaten a part 
of a pea sausage raw and it was very salty. 

On account of my deafness Duncan usually kept 
me posted as to the weather outside. He said he al- 
ways knew when it was drifting by a sound that re- 
sembled rustling silk; and just before dawn on the 
sixth he told me he thought the storm had stopped. 
It didn't take me long to remove the snow plugs and 
find out. The wind had not only gone down, but it 
was clear and I could see Alger Island fourteen miles 
away. 



APPENDICES 277 

We were not long getting ready. Our thirst hounded 
us on. To our great surprise and joy the Sound ice 
was found swept almost clear of snow; or else packed 
hard from the last storm. The bags behaved beauti- 
fully. It was fortunate we had been able to keep the 
dogs on nearly full rations. They needed no help and 
by morn we were at the West Camp furiously tearing 
up Ruberoid roofing for a fire, whereby we could melt 
some snow and quench our thirst. 

"Shall we try to make the East Camp, Mr. Porter? 
I think we can do it if it is not over six miles. Just 
think of getting inside a warm, dry room." 

"If we do, Duncan, we break through the roof. 
We've not strength enough to shovel the place out. 
The drift around that house in spring is on a level with 
the roof. I think we'll chance it." 

So we put some coal into a sack, against our not find- 
ing any at the house, and pushed on, finding the going 
still good. It was a very anxious two hours. There 
was a little drift, that raised the surface of the morning 
snow about a foot. It looked like a sea of milk flow- 
ing over the snow. I didn't know it at the time, 
probably Duncan didn't know it, but the big toe of his 
left foot was already frozen. The dogs seemed to know 
we were nearing the end and maintained the pace. By 
the Basalt Spires, past the huge rock called the Hay- 
stack, we came up over the great flat. Far away we« 
made out a pole with a flag on it. On arriving the 
pole and the top of a stove pipe were all that could be 
seen of the camp. 

But no. There by the pole was a black hole in the 
snow that seemed to lead into the bowels of the earth. 



278 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

And beside the hole, lying on the snow, was a gun! 
Instantly there flashed through my mind the thought 
that the Relief Ship had reached this place the year 
before and left here some men. We slid down through 
the burrow, colliding with a dog, groped our way 
through what I knew to be the stable, into the vestibule 
between the two houses. Involuntarily I felt for the 
latch of the door to the east, found it and pulled the 
door open. 

Never shall I forget what I then saw as long as I live. 
Two soot begrimed faces peering at me in wonder out 
of a void, made all the darker by the light of a slush 
lamp sputtering against the wall. They were Quarter- 
master Rilliet and Mackiernan, though I did not 
recognise them at first. 

"Hullo, fellows, how are you?" 

" How do you do, Porter? You didn't think to see 
us here?" 

"No, I thought you must be from a Relief Ship. 
What are you doing here? What has happened?" 
I felt there had been some serious accident, for finding 
two men here was not in the programme. 

" Mr. Fiala and the Steward fell seventy feet down 
a crevasse on Hooker Island last fall." 

"Is Fiala dead?" 

" No; they were pulled out more dead than alive and 
brought on here, where we found Mr. Peters's party. 
They all went on to Camp Abruzzi later in the night and 
left us two here to hold down the grub. 'Mac' froze his 
toe on the way over, and had to lay up here. It's all 
right now." 



APPENDICES 279 

We had forgotten all about our own woes in the 
thirst for news. 

Then it was Rilliet's turn. 

"Any deaths at Flora?" 

"Strange to say, they're all alive," I answered, 
"though two or three are in pretty bad shape. Two 
parties will be over here later after food." 

"How did you stand the trip over? Gad, look at 
Smokey's face." "Smokey" was Duncan's nickname 
among the sailors. 

Then we told of our misfortune on Hooker Island and 
our long fight to reach a place of safety. 

"Hooker Island is a sure enough 'Hoodoo'," Rilliet 
commented. "From your description of the place it 
was not three miles from where Fiala and Spencer 
fell in." 

They went outside and inspected our ludicrous bun- 
dle, told us to go back inside and make ourselves com- 
fortable while they brought in our effects. So the 
ordeal was over. 

I remarked in my diary the second day at Camp 
Ziegler that Duncan and I had slept hardly two hours 
since arriving. We were forever prowling about with 
a candle in the west house after good things to eat. 
There seemed no end to our appetites and surely no 
limit to our capacity. When we did finally retire it 
was to sleep the clock around. 

Our arrival was very timely. The next day it was 
drifting again badly and I began at once getting 
ready to push on. It was now the seventh of the 
month and the rendezvous at Abruzzi was on the tenth. 
We were away behind our schedule. For the three days 



2 8o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

while it was storming outside our bags were slowly 
drying out over the stove. A " trailer" sled was made 
ready and food put up for a few days. Duncan's toe 
was very painful and when Rilliet held a candle back 
of it you could see a sharp line of demarcation between 
the live and affected flesh. I deemed it imprudent 
for him to go on, though he was anxious to do so, " to 
get on to good feed and tobacco again " as he expressed 
it. So I arranged with Rilliet that Mackiernan take 
his place. 

It was a joy to find myself travelling once again with 
a sled, that the dogs could look after, to make good 
time and only to have to speak to the dogs once in a 
while. Mac and I walked or trotted side by side, 
talking over old times and gossiping over the winter's 
events at Camp Ziegler and Flora. He said a lot of 
bears had been around their camp, walking over the 
roofs of the stable and houses, and that they had shot 
up through the roof at them to scare them away. They 
hadn't killed any but the bears had killed some of their 
dogs. Rilliet had been sick and the winter had been 
very long. They got very tired of each other's com- 
pany and would go along for days hardly speaking, 
although they were always on the best of terms. He 
hoped he would never have to put in another Arctic 
winter with just one man. 

We made Camp Abruzzi in just five marching days- 
which we thought pretty good considering the dis- 
tance, one hundred miles, and our physical con- 
dition. Mac was captivated with the igloos. At 
Kane Lodge we found a new saw and iron shovel 
that greatly facilitated the work of building. Our 



APPENDICES 



2«I 



longest run was twenty-five or thirty miles to Kane 
Lodge, where I knew I had left tobacco the summer 
before. It was this that spurred us on long into the 
darkness in a blinding drift storm — the thought of a 
good smoke. Sure enough the tobacco was there 
just where I had left it, though half gone, The party 
the fall before had used a little, and in the box was a 
note to me from Mr. Fiala, telling of their progress 
to that point. 

We ran across a bear at Coal Mine Island. He was 
coming down the shore by a water hole following some 
seals that were floating in the current. I shot him 
but he slid into the water and I tried to spear him with 
my ivory harpoon using the tent pole for a shaft. But 
although I threw well and struck him, the line was 
yanked out of my left hand, and bear, harpoon, and 
tent pole went floating away beyond reach. At Cape 
Auk I shot another bear. 

On the morning of the seventeenth we crossed the 
young ice of Teplitz Bay and arrived at the station just 
one week late. The place seemed absolutely deserted. 
"Gone" I thought, "we're too late, they're gone." 

Soon a black dog, limping on three legs, emerged 
from the snow and began barking. Then we saw 
smoke ascending from the stove pipe. I entered the 
house and found one man, the chief engineer. The 
main party had left only the day before for the north. 

Russell W. Porter. 



APPENDIX NO. IV. 



TRIP TO THE NORTHEAST COAST OF GREENLAND 



In order to provide for the probability of a return 
of the Ziegler party by way of Greenland, Mr. Champ 
organised a second relief expedition with instructions 
to proceed from Norway to Shannon Island and Bass 
Rock, off the northeast coast of Greenland. In 1901 
a large supply of food, clothing, ammunition, and other 
necessities for the maintenance of a considerable party, 
was stored at this point with the hope that they might 
be utilised by members of the Arctic party sent north 
in the summer of that year. Shannon Island is just 
off the east coast of Greenland in latitude 75 north, 
almost the extreme northern limit of the mapped por- 
tion of the east coast of Greenland; Bass Rock is a 
small island about twenty miles to the south of Shannon 
Island. 

Earlier observations, and particularly the experience 
of Nansen's party in the drift of the Fram, demonstrated 
the existence of a westward movement of the surface 
water and the ice of the Arctic across the group of 
islands known as Franz Josef Land and to the north 
of the Spitsbergen group, toward the northeast coast 
of Greenland, the drift changing to a well-defined 
southwest current along the Greenland coast. Had 
the Ziegler party attained a very high latitude and con- 



APPENDICES 283 

eluded to take advantage of the westward drift in re- 
turning, there would have been a very good chance of 
their reaching Shannon Island and Bass Rock, where they 
could have relied upon finding everything necessary for 
the comfort of the party for a considerable time. There 
was sufficient probability of the return of the Arctic 
explorers by the Greenland route to warrant the fitting 
out of the second relief expedition, especially in view 
of the fact that no word had been received from 
them for two years, and the urgency of relief was in- 
creasing. 

The vessel chosen for the Greenland journey was 
the Magdalena, a Norwegian sealer of about 350 tons, 
a good sailer, but rather slow steamer, strongly built, 
and comfortably fitted up for a small party. The 
officers and crew of eighteen men were Norwegians, 
and most of them were familiar with the North Atlan- 
tic waters. Captain K. Tandberg had made many 
trips into the ice-field off the coast of Greenland, and had 
twenty-five years' experience as a sealer and whaler in 
the North Atlantic. The writer accompanied the 
expedition at the request of Professor Willis L. Moore, 
Chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau, and President of 
the National Geographic Society, and of Mr. W. S. 
Champ, representing the Ziegler Estate. 

The purpose of the expedition being primarily one 
of rescue the instructions were to proceed from San- 
def jord, Norway, directly to Shannon Island and Bass 
Rock for the relief of any member of the Ziegler party 
who might have reached those points; and, after in- 
specting the condition of the supplies laid down in 190 1, 
to return to Norway. Incidentally, opportunities 



284 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

would probably be afforded for gathering observations 
of some value concerning the meteorological and ice 
conditions in the North Atlantic, especially in the 
little known ice-fields off the northeast coast of Green- 
land. In the original contract between Mr. Champ 
and the owner of the vessel, the writer was to accom- 
pany the captain and crew on a sealing trip in the 
North Atlantic waters during the month of June, and 
at the close of the catch, early in July, when the 
chances of open water were likely to be very good, to 
proceed northward through the ice-field to the base 
of supplies before mentioned. An unusual opportun- 
ity would thus be afforded for a study at close range of 
the modern methods of seal and whale catching. A 
change in the plans, however, became necessary at the 
last moment and but little opportunity was afforded 
during the journey for observation along these lines. 
However, a daily record of conditions of the weather 
and ice, and of temperature of the water was main- 
tained, with some additional notes of a miscellaneous 
character which may prove to be of interest. 

The Magdalena left the port of Sandef jord, Norwa) r , 
with the writer aboard on the 22d of June, 1905, 
about a week after the departure of the Terra Nova 
from Tromso with the main relief party under the 
direction of Mr. W. S. Champ. After leaving Sande- 
f jord, we proceeded directly to Bass Rock and Shannon 
Island without stopping at any intermediate point. 

On June 30th, we sighted the Faroe Islands, just 
north of Scotland, and from this time on, owing to 
almost continuous fog, we saw no land until we reached 
the coast of Greenland in latitude 75 north, on the 



APPENDICES 285 

21st of July in view of one of our objective points, 
namely— Bass Rock. 

The conditions encountered and the brief duration 
of the journey (the entire trip covering less than two 
months) do not warrant a classification of the data 
recorded, or a systematic discussion. The following 
pages contain only a chronological arrangement of 
extracts from the daily journal, showing the character 
of weather and ice conditions experienced in the 
North Atlantic in mid-summer, with an occasional 
reference to matters of more general interest to those 
unfamiliar with the regions visited. 

June 22, 1905. Left Sandefjord, Norway, at 10:30 p. m. yesterday, a 
high southwest wind prevailing. About midnight a defect was 
discovered in the boiler, making a return to port advisable. Left 
port again to-day at 5-30 p. m. and made good headway down the 
southeast coast of Norway with a fair wind and tolerably smooth 
sea. 

June 23. Made about 100 miles in the first 24 hours out of port. As 
wind and current were in our favour we did not use steam. A fine 
clear day. Some of the crew understand a little English; the 
Captain and First Mate speak the language well enough to make 
them companionable. 

June 24. A bright clear day with a fresh northwest wind. Used sails 
nearly all day, making a course a little south of west. An ex- 
ceptionally quiet sea ; can scarcely detect the motion of the vessel. 
Averaging about 3 J knots per hour. 

June 23. A quiet fair day, with a favourable wind. Course northwest 
to north. The air temperature has been remarkably uniform, 
varying less than i° F. from n A. M. to 9 P. M. The humidity 
has been high, varying from 92% to 97% of saturation. Cloudy 
in the morning, clearing by noon, with a wind from north to 
northeast. 

June 26. A fine day, bright and warm, with a smooth sea. Active prep- 
arations have been going on all day for the expected bottle-nose 
whale catch off the northeast coast of the Shetland Islands. The 
decks are covered with coils of rope; the guns and harpoons are 
in order, and the small boats prepared for action. 



286 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

June 27. A foggy day with occasional short intervals of sunshine. Light 
head wind, Steaming north, one half east; just east of the Shet- 
land Islands. 

June 28. Off the northeast coast of Shetland Islands at noon. A raw 
northeast wind, with rain nearly all day, and atmosphere near 
saturation point. The sea is high but the Magdalena is remarkably 
steady and comfortable under sail. Making but slow headway, 
averaging only three knots an hour. Guns and harpoons are in 
readiness for whales. Two guns are mounted in the bow and two 
in the stern of the boat. 

June 29. High northeast winds all day with rain all the forenoon. Heavy 
swell and much rolling. Saw two or three bottle-nose whales, but 
we were not near enough for a shot. Made but 85 miles in pre- 
ceding 24 hours. 

June 30. A bright day but plenty of swell and roll. Three knots an hour 
seems to be our limit of speed with the aid of engine alone, and 
burning three to four tons of coal per day. In sight of the Faroe 
Islands all day. Passed the Sunbeam on her way to port, and 
requested her captain to report us. 

July 1. A cloudy day with a southerly wind, enabling us to make a fair 
headway under full sail; averaging four knots an hour. Spoke 
the Margarite early this morning, a whaler from Tonsberg, 
Norway. Her captain reported having caught 28 bottle-nose 
whales during the past three months, and that he hopes to get ten 
or twelve more before returning to port. 

July 2. A cloudy and foggy day, with a light northeast wind. Air tem- 
perature from 48 to 50 F, and water about 46° F. Heavy swell 
from southwest to northeast. Boat rolling violently. Caught our 
first bottle-nose whale this evening. Saw a number during the 
day but did not take time to follow them. Most of them were 
moving southward. The Captain shot a harpoon into one of 
three passing about 150 to 200 feet from the stern of the boat. 
These harpoons, made of wrought iron, are about 5 feet long, and 
weigh about seven or eight pounds. To the end of the harpoon 
is attached a manila rope about seven-eights of an inch thick, and 
about 200 feet long; this rope is in turn joined to a heavier rope 
of about 2 inches diameter and 700 or 800 feet long. On being 
harpooned the whale disappeared with a loud "snort," and did not 
again come to the surface for about half an hour. All the rope 
had been paid out and another length of about 800 feet attached. 
In the meantime one of the small boats, equipped with a har- 
poon gun and several hundred feet of rope, was manned and 
lowered; the crew rowed in the direction of the line in the water 
and waited for the reappearance of the harpooned whale. On 



APPENDICES 287 

rising to the surface about 40 yards distant another harpoon was 
sent into his flank. The rope parted and once more the whale 
disappeared. On reappearing about half an hour later, a third 
harpoon ended the frantic struggle for freedom. The pull on the 
first rope which was made fast to the upper deck of the Magdalena 
was so great as to bodily move the vessel backward for a short 
distance. The prize was now towed alongside the Magdalena, and 
by means of knives with long handles (6 ft. to 10 ft. long) the 
blubber was removed, hoisted on deck, cut into pieces of about two 
to four square feet, and stowed away in one of the thirty-five or 
more large iron tanks in the hold. The carcass was left to float in 
the sea and was soon the centre of a noisy bunch of hungry sea gulls. 
The whale was one of medium size for these waters, being 21 
ft. 6 in. in length, with a middle circumference of 10 ft. 6 in.; 
around the head (across the eyes) 8 ft. 6 in. : length of upper 
snout 1 ft. ; length of lower snout 1 ft. 10 in. The average thick- 
ness of blubber was 3 inches. The Captain estimated the total 
weight of blubber removed at about 1200 lbs., valued at about 
$75. The whale "spouted" 3 or 4 times between "soundings." 
The "spout" had the appearance of a cloud rather than a spray. 
The "blow" was distinctly heard at a distance of about Soo ft. 

July3. A cold disagreeable day. The vessel rolled badly all night, being 
without sails to steady her. The first mate reported having seen 
a bottle-nose early this morning entirely out of the water, clearing 
the surface, he estimated, over a fathom. The captain tells me 
they frequently rise entirely out of the water. Making good pro- 
gress northward, about five knots per hour. Air temperature and 
the surface water, 44 F. 

July4. A wet, cheerless day. Brisk to high west winds, and a heavy 
sea. Swell from north-northwest. Making good progress north- 
ward, however, under full sail; averaging over 6 knots per hour. 
The water is 2° warmer than yesterday. Air temperature 39 
to 43 °. 

July 5. Another raw, disagreeable day, with southerly winds in forenoon, 
and northerly in afternoon, increasing in force. Heavy swell from 
the northeast. Air temperature 45 , water 45°. 

July 6. Creeping slowly northward in a zigzag line, tacking into a north- 
east wind; made only 20 knots in preceding 24 hours. A dull 
cloudy day, with light and occasionally dense fog. Have had no 
sunshine since July 1st. 

July 7. Cloudy all day, with a brisk northeast wind. We are some- 
where in the neighbourhood of Jan Mayen Islands, but exact 
location unknown as we have had no good sun observation for 
three or four days. The air is not clear enough to see more than 



288 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

a few miles. Between noon and 6 p. m. there was a fall in tem- 
perature of 2°, without a change of wind. The temperature con- 
tinued to fall to ii P. M., making a change of nearly 6° since noon. 
We must be near the ice fields. There was also a fall of 2° in the 
temperature of the water. This would indicate that we are farther 
west than indicated by our calculations. Temperature at noon 
43°, at midnight 37°; water 45°-5 and 43 °. 4 at the same hours. 

July 8. A cloudy day with occasional fog. The atmosphere and water 
growing rapidly colder. We are probably just to the east of Jan 
Mayen Islands, hidden from view by the dense fog. The first 
mate reports seeing three or four fin-back whales to-day. 

July 9. A cloudy day, with frequent patches of dense fog. Light to 
fresh northeast wind and a comparatively smooth sea. With 
a humidity of 98% to 100% fog areas form and disappear very 
quickly. One moment it is comparatively clear and in the next 
we are surrounded by a fog so dense that we can not see more than a 
ship's length about us. Tested our speed to-day; with 60 revo- 
lutions per minute the best speed we could get out of our engine 
was 3 1 knots per hour. The first mate reports seeing a school of 
about 16 large blue whales early this morning. 

July 10. A cloudy day with light and occasionally dense fog. Air tem- 
perature from 29° F. to 32 F. ; water temperature varying between 
31° and 3 2 . Entered the southern edge of the drift ice early this 
morning. It is a scene of marvellous beauty. Honeycombed ice 
in the most fantastic shapes, in pure white and transparent greens, 
floating on all sides of us. About a mile or two to the west of us 
is the white line of pack ice, apparently without an opening through 
which we could force our way. The captain thinks it advisable to go 
farther north, about latitude 74°, before attempting to enter the 
thick ice. Saw a number of seals in the water about 8 a.m.; five or 
six of them in line were swimming a hundred yards or so ahead of 
us keeping a sharp lookout on our movements. Birds are here in 
abundance, mostly the auk and the gull. The air is at times 
filled with fine needles of ice. The clouds are thin and low, much 
like lifted fog. In the afternoon the fog increased, becoming quite 
dense. Went gunning for seals in one of the small boats with the 
first mate and three sailors. We rowed over to the edge of the 
heavy pack ice, where we saw hundreds of seals on the larger floes. 
The roar and splashing of the water as the floes were tossed about 
by the swell is somewhat alarming on first acquaintance, but the 
excitement of the hunt readily over-balanced the thought of dan- 
ger. We succeeded in getting but two seals. Two or three jumped 
into the water after being shot and sank before we could reach 
them. We lost many of them in a similar manner later on. There 



APPENDICES 289 

were scores of them in the waters about us but it is useless to 
shoot them under these conditions as they sink within two or 
three minutes after being mortally wounded. The movements of 
the seals are exceedingly graceful in the water, but very awkward 
on the ice. Their antics are sometimes grotesque in the extreme, 
following one another in a long line, turning complete somer- 
saults, sometimes forward, then sideways or backward, and 
sometimes leaping far out of the water. Took a few pictures of 
small ice floes as they moved slowly past us. Some of them are 
extremely graceful and beautiful in shape, and have the most 
delicate shades of blue or green by transmitted light, and pure 
white by reflected light. They are particularly imposing as they 
float quietly by the ship on a smooth sea and in a light fog. So 
far the floes have been small, not more than six or eight feet high, 
and very much honeycombed — evidently in the last stages of dis- 
solution. The fog is bothering us a great deal again. We have 
not been free from the troublesome and dangerous element for 
seven or eight days. To-day we are in latitude 72 north, a little 
to the north and east of Jan Mayen Islands apparently. 

July 1 1 . Another day of fog and slow progress toward the coast of Green- 
land. The fog lifted for a few hours later in the morning, and I 
accompanied the ship's carpenter, an experienced sealer, in the 
small boat on another seal hunt. We brought back only two seals. 
It was difficult to get within a reasonable distance of them before 
they discovered us and took to the water. The ice floes to-day 
are flatter — evidently an earlier stage than those we saw yesterday. 
It seemed to me we had considerable difficulty in pushing our way 
through the ice, but when I expressed this opinion to the Captain 
he consoled me with the remark that we would soon find the floes 
forty to fifty times as large. The fog lifted late in the afternoon 
revealing a closely packed band of drift ice just to the west of us, 
too thick to think of attempting to push our way through at this 
point. Saw a large seal jump out of the water, the entire body 
being at least three feet above the surface. Air temperature 34° 
to 36 ; water 33° to 34 . 

July 12. This morning we found exceedingly dense ice just west of us, 
utterly impossible to get through at this point (73 N.) Later 
the fog became dense and the wind rose, making it dangerous to 
push ahead. The Captain left up just enough sail to prevent 
drifting, so we remained nearly stationary all day. Just to the 
north of us the edge of the ice took an eastward trend as far as we 
could see. A long and weary day; we have not had bright sun- 
shine, even for an hour, since July 1st. 



2 9 o FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

July 13. Another foggy day. The fog lifted somewhat about noon and 
we found ourselves almost surrounded by compact ice floes, too 
thick to risk a forced passage. The captain concluded we had 
gone far enough north and turned southwestward along the edge 
of the thick ice looking for a promising opening to push westward 
into the ice field. About 3 p. M. we found a favourable oppor- 
tunity and started in; steering a course northwestward, and mak- 
ing fair progress toward Shannon Island, but bumping into large 
floes most of the night. We anchored to a floe long enough to fill 
our water tanks with delicious fresh water from the numerous pools 
of melted snow found at this season of the year on all of the larger 
ice floes. 
July 14. Another foggy day. Making fine progress through the ice to- 
day. The floes are much larger than any we have seen thus far, 
one of them measuring four or five miles in length, but the open 
water between the floes is growing in extent. We have presumably 
been in the region of the midnight sun for some days past, but 
owing to fog and cloud we have scarcely seen the sun at any time 
of day. Caught a glimpse of the sun for the first time at midnight, 
but the break in the clouds was of short duration. In the after- 
noon the captain saw a large polar bear on one of the ice floes and 
ran the ship to the edge to permit us to give chase. Four of us 
followed him through soft snow and pools of water for an hour or so 
but he swam to another floe before we could get a shot at him. 
Later we saw another bear on a nearby floe but did not feel jus- 
tified in taking the necessary time to give chase. We are now in 
latitude 73 30' north, and longitude about 3 30' west. With a 
clear atmosphere we would be able to see Shannon Island to the 
west and north of us. Air temperature from 34 to 35°; water 
varying from 32° to 34°. 

July 15. A little sunshine to-day. Fog lifted for a short time revealing 
alto-cumulus clouds in the morning; in the afternoon upper and 
lower cirrus visible at times. Wind light to fresh southeast. We 
have had practically open water most of the day; here and there 
we met a cluster of small floes, but none to give us any trouble. 
Failed again to get a good sun observation at noon, but we are not 
far out in our calculations. The water showed a considerable 
change in temperature from 9 A. 11. to 3 P. M., a rise of 2°. There 
is very little animal life to-day — only a few sea gulls. Sunshine 
after 8 p. m., but foggy on horizon. A fine exhibition of "trailing 
cirrus" clouds at n P. M., apparently converging from the zenith 
to a point in the west-southwest. About 11 p. M. we passed a 
floe on our port side (steering northwest by west) which was larger 
than any the captain has seen in his twenty-five years' experience 



APPENDICES 291 

in North Altantic waters: it was at least ten miles long: from 
the crow's nest (135 ft. above deck) the end could not be seen. 
Got a sun elevation at midnight, the first reliable observation 
possible since June 30th. It is lighter at this hour (midnight) 
in my stateroom than at any time, day or night, during the past 
fifteen days. The ice floes are getting larger and more rugged, 
the surface being covered with a network of ridges from 5 to 10 
feet high. 

July 16. A bright, clear day — the first of the kind since June 30th when 
we were off the Faroe Islands. Fog set in again from the south- 
east toward evening, and disappeared at intervals to midnight. 
The sea was remarkably smooth, and the temperature surprisingly 
uniform for a clear day, varying less than 3 between morning and 
noon. Air temperature about 36° and water about 35°. The ice 
was heavier to-day — the floes were large and numerous with rough 
hummocky surfaces, but we had no difficulty in picking our way 
through them. Came upon a small sealing schooner from Tromso, 
Norway, about noon. The harpooner came aboard the Magdalena 
and took dinner with us. He stated that they had been in these 
waters since April and had a catch of about 600 seals andig polar 
bears, three of the bears were alive as we saw when we returned 
the visit a little later in the day. As the Captain of the schooner 
was on his way back to Norway we all sent letters by him. He 
had neither chronometer nor sextant with him and seemed to have 
very little idea as to where he was or just how he was to get out of 
the ice. Captain Tandberg gave him our latitude and longitude 
and advised him to take a southeasterly course out of the ice. It 
is astonishing what some of these Norwegian captains accomplish 
every year in these dangerous waters with their small sailing vessels 
and scant instrumental equipment. Saw three polar bears on one 
of the ice floes but lost sight of them before we could come to a con- 
venient anchorage to follow them. Latitude 74° 35' north; longi- 
tude 10° 30' west. 

July 1 7 . We got into a tight place to-day. We are now lying in a narrow 
lane between two immense ice fields and surrounded by a dense fog. 
We can see only a few hundred feet about us. The day has not 
been wasted, however, as we secured four bears. I was the first 
to see the bear we got this morning, and had the first shot at him 
as he was swimming toward the boat from one of the ice floes. We 
lowered one of the small boats and headed him off as he turned 
back toward the ice. There were too many hunters in the game and 
we riddled the hide with our bullets. Later in the day, as we were 
anchored to one of the large floes waiting for an opportunity to 
push forward, two bears approached to leeward. When they were 



292 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

within 150 or 200 yards of us we opened fire. Before we could 
reach them a third bear appeared out of the increasing fog and we 
soon added all three to our stock. We are now anxiously waiting 
for the fog to lift in order that we may see where we are, and how 
to get out of the dangerous position between two large ice floes. 
The floes about us are from 7 to 8 feet in thickness, judging by some 
of the smaller ones which we have run into and overturned. We 
are now in a narrow lane, not over 50 feet wide, where the ice 
has been jammed by the grinding of two very large fields, several 
miles in extent. 

We built a fire on the port floe and put a lot of seal blubber in- 
to it in order to attract any bears to leeward that may be lured 
by the odour of the burning blubber. The air temperature 
ranged from 34° to 37° during the day, and the water tempera- 
ture from 30° to 33 . The fog has been dense and persistent to- 
day, lifting only at intervals and then only partially. 

July 18. We are hemmed in on all sides by immense ice floes. To add 
to our difficulties the narrow channel, in which we have been at 
anchor since yesterday, began to close up astern. We could move 
neither forward nor backward. The two large floes were grinding, 
and we were in a dangerous situation. About noon the Magdalena 
was nipped and lifted 4 or 5 feet out of the water. She very soon 
righted herself, however, and we found to our great relief that the 
damage had been small. The rudder chains were torn from their 
moorings on the upper deck and the screw socket was somewhat 
loosened. About 4 p. m. the fog lifted and revealed open water 
just ahead, but the channel leading into it was practically closed 
up with small pieces of recently crushed ice. We found on investi- 
gation however that the channel was widening, and in a couple 
of hours we were enabled to push our way through. Beyond the 
channel we found comparatively open water and made excellent 
progress the balance of the day. The intense whiteness of the ice 
fields and the reflected light from snow covering of the past ten 
days caused a severe inflammation of the eyes, accompanied by a 
slight fever and headache. By remaining in the darkened state- 
room for a few hours my eyes improved and the fever disappeared. 
We are now probably within fifty miles of Bass Rock, but the 
incessant dense fog has prevented our seeing any great distance. 

July 19. Sighted land at about 4 P. M. in the northwest, probably the 
mountain peaks on Sabine and Pendulum Islands, just south of 
Shannon Island. The water was comparatively open and we made 
good progress after the fog lifted, about 8 A. m. At noon we were 
in latitude 74° 12' north, and longitude 16° 12' west. Spent a large 
part of the day in the "crow's nest," about 135 feet above the 



APPENDICES 293 

deck, trying to identify the mountain peaks along the Greenland 
coast. The ice we passed through to-day was largely last year's 
ice, very thin and soft, offering very little resistance to the boat's 
passage. The floes of this year 's ice were also much smaller. From 
present appearances we shall be able to get close up to shore in 
open water. 

July 20. A dense fog all day. Late in the afternoon and evening the 
fog lifted for short intervals. About 4 P.M. we found that we were 
about ten miles off the eastern coast of Wallaston Foreland. Owing 
to dense fog the captain was not willing to take any risk, so we 
remained in practically the same position for twelve hours or more. 
The water is practically free from ice as far as we can see along 
Wallaston Foreland and Sabine Island. At noon to-day I witnessed 
a complete double fog-bow from the crow's nest, with my shadow 
in the centre. The outer bow had slight colour, and the inner one 
a decided colour. There seemed to be some good-sized glaciers on 
Wallaston Foreland, and a number of high mountain peaks, 
probably 4,000 ft. to 5,000 ft. high. Since June 30th we have had 
but one day without troublesome fog. Air temperature 35° to 
37 , and water 32 to 33 . 

July 21. We reached our destination to-day, visiting both Bass Rock 
and Shannon Island. The day was bright and the atmosphere 
remarkably clear, so clear that we were constantly deceived as to 
distances. A light northeasterly wind prevailed in the morning, 
and a southerly wind in the afternoon with a temperature vary- 
ing from 33 to 37 . The temperature of the water ranged from 
3 2 to 35°. The humidity was remarkably high for so bright a 
day, being 98% at 8 a. m. and decreasing to 94% by 10 P. M. 
The humidity has been uniformly high during the entire month, 
only occasionally falling below 95 % and then only for a few hours 
at a time. During the preceding night we anchored to a large 
floe on account of the dense fog. At 4 A. M. the fog having lifted,we 
set out for Bass Rock and Shannon Island, both of which now ap- 
peared very near. We found the ice conditions much better than we 
had expected. There were some large floes, but the captain found 
no difficulty in threading his way through channels of open water to 
within a mile or two of Bass Rock. Accompanied by the first 
mate and three or four sailors I left the Magdalena at about 9 A. M. 
and we made our way through the rough ice to the two octagonal 
sheds on Bass Rock, which contained the stores laid down in 190 1 
for the earlier Ziegler party. There were no evidences of anyone 
having visited the island since Captain Kjeldsen's trip in the 
summer of 1903. The supplies and the sheds were in good con- 
dition, with the exception of the petroleum which had practically all 



294 



FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 



evaporated from the barrels. The stores had not been disturbed. 
After leaving a note to the effect that our pary had inspected the 
station, and wishing to take advantage of the bright day, we 
returned to the Magdalena in about four hours, and immediately 
moved northward toward Shannon Island, about 20 miles dis- 
tant. We reached our destination at about 5 p. m. without much 
hindrance from ice. Here we were even more fortunate as we were 
able to get one of our small boats close to shore. We remained on 
the island only about an hour. The shed and the stores were in 
excellent condition, none of the supplies apparently having been 
disturbed. The only evidence of the visit of any human being 
was a note by Captain Ole Nasso of the ship Severn of Tromso, 
stating that he had been here two weeks ago, and that he had been 
on the lookout for the Fiala-Ziegler party. 

Bass Rock and Shannon Island,!like the rest of the Greenland coast 
in this region, are bare rugged rocks, with only a small amount of 
snow in protected places. We found a few small willows, about three 
inches in height, and clusters of a small white flower, name unknown. 
At 7 P. M. we embarked and the captain headed the Magdalena 
homeward. We were all greatly relieved and rejoiced to accomplish 
the purpose of our journey with so little difficulty and in so short 
a time, and celebrated the event with a feast of good things. A 
little later the crew gathered in the bow of the boat and their 
spokesman (the carpenter) made a speech congratulating me on 
the successful attainment of my object and thanking me for the 
refreshments, closing with three cheers for the "Doctor." Not 
understanding the language I was for a time unaware that the 
ceremony was in my honour as I stood on the upper deck watching 
their movements. The first mate, who was standing at my side, 
interpreted their remarks and I hastened to acknowledge then- 
attention. 

Some of the smaller ice floes seen to-day along Pendulum Island 
were between 15 feet and 20 feet in height — the highest we have 
seen thus far. The water is much more open along the coast in this 
latitude than we had expected to find it. All the larger floes have 
a very rough, hummocky surface, the ridges of crushed ice being 
from 5 feet to 8 feet high. The only level ice we saw was the fast 
shore ice in the channel between Shannon Island and the mainland. 
The current between Shannon Island and Bass Rock is very strong, 
setting southward with a velocity of about half a mile an hour. 
Along the main Greenland coast several glaciers are visible in the 
distance, some reaching down to the water's edge. We have not 
seen a single iceberg during our journey. 



APPENDICES 295 

July 22. Homeward bound. Dense fog until n a. m. Took a course 
southwest during the morning but soon came to impenetrable ice 
and changed to south, following the coast, where the sea was com- 
paratively open. Cloudy, with light fog, changing late in the 
afternoon to a light mist. The highest floes seen to-day were 
about 25 feet in height. No evidences of life on the ice to-day 
with the exception of one large seal reported by the second mate 
early this morning, and a couple of sea gulls. Ran into heavy 
ice again about 6 p. m. Air temperature 35 to 37°; water 320 
to 3 6°. Heading for the Jan Mayen Islands. 

July 23. Another foggy day, with rain at intervals. The wind was fresh 
from the northeast in the forenoon, changing to southerly in the 
afternoon. Made but little progress since yesterday owing to 
frequent delays on account of dense fog, and the zig-zag course 
made necessary in order to dodge large ice floes. Fresh east to 
south winds. Air temperature about 35°; water, 3 4 . We expect 
to reach Iceland about the close of the week, where I hope to find 
a more rapid means of locomotion back to England or the Continent. 

July 24. Passed through the thickest ice of the return trip to-day, about 
half way between Shannon Island and the Jan Mayen Islands. 
Fortunately found a narrow lane of open water. The day was 
foggy with light rain after 8 P. m. Fresh southerly winds. 

July 25. Dense fog lifted about noon. A great deal of open water 
with only an occasional large floe to divert us from our course 
E. S. E. Wind southeast in the morning, changing to east-north- 
east in the afternoon, and increasing in force. Air temperature 
35°; water 33 . 

July 26. Another day of dense fog, with light misting rain in forenoon. 
Very little progress since noon of yesterday. A solid belt of ice 
ahead of us, which we are skirting to northward to find an opening. 
Found open water in our course about 8 p. m. 

July 27. Dense fog most of the day. The sea was remarkably smooth, 
with a mirror-like surface. Passed through small and moderate 
sized slack ice all day long, steering a south-southeast course, with 
a speed of about 3 knots an hour. The waters abounded in seal, 
and birds were unusually numerous. Speaking of seals the Captain 
stated that he and his crew of thirty men killed 999 seals in 
twelve hours on one of his cruises. I tried to persuade him to 
make it an even thousand but he refused to yield. A light misting 
rain fell in the morning Filled one of the ship's tanks with fresh 
water from a large floe early this morning. Air temperature, 3 6°; 
water, 34 . 



296 FIGHTING THE POLAR ICE 

July 28. Passed out of the ice about eleven o'clock last night. I am con- 
vinced we entered the ice too far north, and that we would have 
found more open water just north of Jan Mayen Islands, and saved 
three or four days, instead of making for 74° north before attempt- 
ing to enter. Dense fog all day, but we made fair progress aided 
by wind and current. A smooth sea with a slight swell. Air tem- 
perature, 3 8°; water, 39°; northwest winds. 

July 29. A day without fog. The crater of Mount Beren on Jan Mayen 
Island was clearly visible this morning above the clouds ; we were 
about thirty to forty miles south of the islands when the fog lifted 
about us. The cone is apparently covered with ice and snow. 
The base of the mountain was also visible, and surrounded by ice. 
The presence of so much ice at this season would indicate that the 
past winter was unusually severe. The captain claims that he 
has never seen so much ice on the mountain even in March and 
April. A rise of 8° in the temperature of the air since yesterday 
indicates that we have passed out of the influence of the ice fields. 
Saw two large fin-back whales this morning, moving northward. 

July 30. Brisk northeast winds prevailed all day, enabling us to make 
fine progress toward Iceland without the use of the engines. Made 
about ninety miles in the preceding twenty-four hours, nearly as 
much as we made in three days in this region on our outward 
voyage. We are making an effort to reach Miofjord, on the east 
coast of Iceland, by the 2nd of August in order to catch the steamer 
Kong Inge which leaves that port for Leith, Scotland, on the 
3d. This will enable me to reach England two or three weeks 
earlier than I could by going with the Magdalena to Reykefjord, 
Iceland. Saw four or five large fin-back whales to-day, all spouting 
vigorously. The spouts resembled so many jets of steam rising 
from the surface of the water, gradually dissolving and disappear- 
ing entirely in three to five seconds. The captain estimated the 
length of these whales at 70 to 80 feet. 

July 31. A cloudy day with steady and brisk northeast wind, and a rough 
sea. Making excellent progress toward Miofjord, using sails only. 

August 1. A bright sunshiny day with brisk north to northwest winds, 
and high seas. Anchored in Miofjord on the east coast of Iceland 
about sunset. 

Taking leave of the captain and crew of the Magdalena on the 
2d, I took passage on the Danish steamer Kong Inge on the 3d 
and reached Leith, Scotland, early in the morning of the seventh of 
August. 

August n. London. The daily papers yesterday announced the great 
news of the safe return of Mr. Champ and his party bringing with 
them, from Franz Josef Land, all but one of the Ziegler Arctic 
party. Oliver L. Fassig. 



APPENDIX NO. V. 

WINDS AND TEMPERATURES RECORDED AT 

CAMP ABRUZZI, RUDOLPH ISLAND, FROM 

SEPTEMBER, 1903, TO APRIL, 1904 







FOR MONTH OP 


SEPTEMBER, 1903 














Total 










Total 


o 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 




Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


p 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


a 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


I 


36 


26 


31 


361 


18 


18 


8 


13 


J 32 


2 


35 


24 


3° 


729 


19 


19 


5 


12 


I«5 


3 


35 


3° 


32 


548 


20 


21 


17 


19 


312 


4 


35 


22 


28 


196 


21 


20 


3 


12 


462 


s 


35 


22 


28 


349 


22 


7 


1 


4 


92 


6 


34 


26 


3° 


435 


23 


12 





6 


159 


7 


3 2 


26 


29 


260 


24 


12 


— 4 


4 


184 


« 


3° 


25 


28 


293 


25 


8 





4 


368 


9 


29 


23 


26 


148 


20 


22 


7 


14 


5°I 


IO 


25 


19 


22 


no 


27 


26 


22 


24 


593 


II 


25 


18 


22 


281 


28 


28 


18 


23 


147 


12 


3 2 


21 


26 


394 


2q 


24 


15 


20 


121 


13 


31 


17 


24 
26 

17 

20 


298 


3° 


20 


6 


J 3 


563 


±4 

IS 
t6 


24 


T 9 
13 
13 


234 
96 

293 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


27 




Temp. 


Temp. 


Temp. 


9,070 


17 


34 


14 


24 


226 




+ 25.2 


+ 15.2 


+ 20.3 





Aggregate amount of calm weather in month, 3 hours. Maximum 
hourly velocity of wind for month and direction, 60 miles, southeast. 
Average temperature for month, +40. Average wind velocity for month, 
302 miles a day. Francis Long, Observer. 

FOR MONTH OF OCTOBER, 1903 











Total 










Total 


<D 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 





Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


p 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 


of Wind 


q 


Temp. 


Temo. 


Min. 


of Wind 






Temp. 


in Miles 








Temp. 


in Miles 


I 


22 


13 


18 


620 


18 


5 


12 


— 4 


173 


2 


27 


16 


22 


299 


19 


~Z 9 


— 18 


—14 


294 


3 


20 


5 


12 


242 


20 


Zero 


— 9 


— 5 


419 


4 


16 


3 


10 


84 


21 


3 


— 11 


— 4 


94 


5 


13 


I 


7 


180 


22 


8 


— 2 


3 


0i5 


6 


17 


10 


14 


689 


23 


10 


4 


7 


1,249 


7 


18 


— 5 


6 


227 


24 


11 


4 


8 


4Si 


8 


— 9 


—17 


— *3 


71 


25 


13 


4 


8 


174 


9 


— 8 


—16 


— 12 


49 


26 


20 


12 


16 


0i5 


10 


4 


— 4 


Zero 


234 


27 


16 


5 


10 


551 


II 


4 


— 7 


— 1 


427 


28 


17 


11 


14 


144 


12 


5 


— 1 


2 


471 


29 


16 


6 


11 


80 


13 


13 


5 


9 


256 


3° 


6 


— 1 


2 


73 


14 


16 

17 

4 

9 


4 
4 
— 5 
Zero 


10 

10 

— 1 

5 


135 
109 

54 
494 


3 1 


8 


— 3 


2 


359 


15 
16 

17 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 




Temp. 
+ 10 


Temp. 
Zero 


Temp. 
+ 6.7 


9.932 



Number of calms in month, none. Maximum hourly velocity of wind for 
month and direction, 72 miles, east. Average temperature for month, 
+ 10. Average wind velocity for month, 320 miles a day. 

Francis Long, Observer. 



FOR MONTH OF NOVEMBER, 1903 











Total 










Total 




Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


© 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


Q 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


Q 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


I 


Zero 


— 18 


— 9 


192 


18 


— 21 


—34 


—28 


128 


2 


—14 


— 20 


— 17 


242 


19 


— 21 


—28 


—24 


141 


3 


—18 


—28 


—23 


189 


20 


— 4 


—25 


—14 


497 


4 


—17 


—28 


2 2 


145 


21 


+ 25 


— 8 


+ 8 


553 


5 


—is 


—27 


21 


77 


22 


+ 19 


—16 


+ 2 


552 


6 


— 11 


22 


— 16 


86 


2 3 


+ 18 


—16 


+ 1 


636 


7 


—18 


— 26 


2 2 


54 


24 


+ 21 


+ 10 


+ iS 


783 


8 


— 25 


—33 


—29 


85 


2 5 


+ IO 


Zero 


+ S 


422 


9 


—31 


—42 


-36 


42 


26 


+ IO 


— 2 


+ 4 


1,023 


10 


—31 


—43 


—37 


in 


27 


+ 12 


— 1 


+ 5 


919 


ii 


-38 


—47 


—42 


52 


28 


+ 18 


— 2 


+ 8 


870 


12 


— 20 


—40 


—3° 


162 


29 


+ 11 


+ 6 


+ 8 


1,079 


13 


+ 9 
+ 27 


-36 


— 14 

+ 4 


754 


3° 


+ 9 


+ 2 


+ S 


398 


















IS 
16 


— 11 


— 'S 
—3° 


—18 


289 
303 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


—17 


— 2 3 




Temp. 


Temp. 


Temp. 


11,422 


17 


— 9 


—23 


—16 


231 




— 9 


— 21 


—14.7 





Number of calms in month , none. Maximum hourly velocity of wind for 
month and direction, 76 miles, east-southeast. Total amount of wind in 
miles for month, 11,422. Monthly mean temperature, — 28.4. Average 
wind velocity for month, 381 miles a day. Francis Long, Observer. 

FOR MONTH OF DECEMBER, 1903 











Total 










Total 





Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 





Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


Q 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


Q 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


1 


+ 2 


— 6 


— 2 


S 2 3 


18 


— S 


—18 


— 12 


467 


2 


— 6 


—13 


— 10 


233 


19 


—IS 


—28 


2 2 


579 


3 


+ 2 


— 16 


— 7 


413 


20 


—17 


—32 


—24 


851 


4 


+ s 


— 6 


— I 


276 


21 


— 19 


—27 


—23 


279 


S 


— 6 


— IS 


— 10 


83 


22 


— 18 


—25 


2 2 


870 


6 


— 8 


-3° 


— 22 


135 


23 


—16 


2 2 


—19 


633 


7 


— 22 


—35 


—28 


201 


24 


—18 


—3° 


—24 


3S3 


8 


—is 


—24 


— 20 


251 


2 5 


— 14 


—29 


2 2 


Si6 


9 


—is 


— 21 


—18 


882 


26 


—is 


—26 


20 


283 


10 


— 9 


— 20 


—14 


734 


27 


— 12 


22 


—17 


752 


11 


— 3 


~ 9 


— 6 


1,087 


28 


—16 


21 


— l8 


1,761 


12 


— 4 


— 8 


— 6 


i,523 


29 


— II 


20 


—l6 


39° 


1.3 


— 4 


— 14 


— 9 


373 


3° 


— 14 


21 


— 18 


128 


14 


— 8 
—18 


—23 


—16 


555 


31 


— 4 


— 14 


— 9 


758 




















Tfi 


—16 


— 2S 

— 21 


— 20 


93 7 
681 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


17 


— 6 


—14 




Temp. 


Temp. 


Temp. 


18,280 














— 10.4 


—21.3 


—15.8 








Number of calms in month, none. Maximum hourly velocity of wind 
for month and direction, 84 miles, south-southeast. Average temperature 
for month, — 3 1 .5. Average wind velocity for month, 590 miles a day. 

Francis Long, Observer. 







FOR MONTH OF JANUARY 


, 1904 














Total 










Total 


o 


Max. 


Min. 


Max. and 


Daily 





Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


p 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


P 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


i 


— 4 


— 18 


— II 


467 


18 


+ 14 


Zero 


+ 7 


5!5 


2 


— 6 


—31 


— 18 


234 


19 


+14 


+ 8 


+ 11 


467 


3 


—14 


—28 


21 


362 


20 


+22 


+ 9 


+ 16 


747 


4 


—15 


— 3 2 


— 24 


226 


21 


+ 3i 


— 6 


+ 12 


762 


5 


—19 


-38 


— 28 


257 


22 


+ 26 


— 10 


+ 8 


1. 015 


6 


— 8 


—40 


—24 


321 


23 


— 5 


—is 


— 10 


342 


7 


+ 4 


—27 


12 


399 


24 


+ 8 


—18 


— S 


687 


8 


—17 


—27 


22 


742 


2 5 


+ 3 


— 7 


— 2 


462 


9 


—is 


—24 


20 


358 


26 


— 7 


—19 


—13 


478 


IO 


— 22 


— 3 1 


— 26 


262 


27 


—is 


—25 


— 20 


119 


II 


—28 


-46 


—37 


39 1 


28 


— 22 


—28 


—25 


112 


12 


—45 


—5i 


—48 


287 


29 


— 20 


—27 


—24 


788 


13 


—48 


— 52 


— S° 


102 


3° 


—21 


—27 


—24 


484 


14 


—40 
— 2 3 


—5° 
—42 


— 45 
—32 


34 
2 37 


31 


— 21 


—3° 


—26 


302 


Tfi 












+ 12 


—24 


— 6 


45 1 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


*7 


+ 12 


— 1 


+ 6 


108 




Temp. 
— 8.8 


Temp. 
—24.9 


Temp. 
— 16 


12,518 



Aggregate amount of calm weather for month, 9 hours. Maximum 
hourly velocity of wind for month and direction, 75 miles, south. Aver- 
age temperature for month, — 34. Average wind velocity for month, 404 
miles a day. Francis Long, Observer. 

FOR MONTH OF FEBRUARY, 1904 









Mean, 
Max. and 


Total 










Total 





Max. 


Min. 


Daily 





Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 


p 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


P 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 
Temp. 


of Wind 
in Miles 


I 


— 25 


—31 


—28 


160 


18 


+ 4 


—37 


—16 


478 


2 


— 20 


—27 


—24 


259 


19 


—25 


—45 


—35 


126 


3 


12 


—25 


—18 


876 


20 


— 6 


—25 


— 16 


983 


4 


—is 


— 21 


— 18 


897 


21 


— 1 


—17 


— 9 


619 


s 


II 


— 20 


— 16 


443 


22 


+ 15 


— 6 


+ 4 


981 


6 


— IO 


—17 


—14 


498 


2,3 


+ 16 


—28 


— 6 


387 


7 


—14 


— 21 


—18 


146 


24 


+ 23 


—32 


— 4 


773 


8 


— 4 


—24 


—14 


166 


25 


+ 5 


—17 


— 6 


413 


9 


— 4 


—18 


— II 


312 


26 


+ 26 


— 17 


— 4 


707 


10 


— 10 


—17 


—14 


378 


27 


+ 24 


—25 


— 1 


349 


11 


— 9 


—37 


— 23 


280 


28 


— 4 


—16 


— 10 


142 


12 


—37 


—44 


—40 

—27 
— IO 


fS9 


29 


+ 30 


+ 4 


+ 17 


684 


13 
14 
15 
16 


+ 4 
—24 


43 
—24 
—43 


3°4 
464 
205 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


—34 




Temp. 


Temp. 


Temp, 


12,791 


—33 


—44 


-38 


182 




— 4-5 


— 26.0 


-17.8 




17 


— S 


—40 


— 22 


920 













Aggregate amount of calm weather for month, 2 hours. Maximum 
hourly velocity of wind for month and direction, 66 miles, south-south- 
east. Average temperature for month, — 31. Average wind velocity for 
month, 441 miles. Francis Long, Observer. 



FOR MONTH OF MARCH, 1904 











Total 










Total 


V 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily _ 

Movcrn t 


a 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean, 
Max. and 


Daily 
Move't 


a 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 


of Wind 


a 


Temp. 


Temp. 


Min. 


of Wind 






Temp. 


in Miles 








Temp. 


in Miles 


i 


+ 23 


— 9 


+ 7 


217 


18 


—29 


—5° 


—40 


122 


2 


+ 10 


—29 


— 10 


295 


r 9 


2 


—29 


— 16 


241 


3 


— 9 


—37 


— 2 3 


46S 


20 


— 8 


-36 


22 


522 


4 


+ 17 


—24 


— 4 


786 


21 


-t- 8 


— 9 


I 


1,093 


5 


— 10 


-36 


—23 


406 


22 


+ 9 


—13 


2 


349 


6 


+ 2 


— 12 


— S 


242 


23 


—13 


—25 


— 19 


513 


7 


+ 1 


—16 


— 8 


360 


24 


—25 


—37 


—31 


363 


8 


—16 


—24 


— 20 


181 


2 S 


— 20 


—33 


— 26 


78 


9 


—18 


—23 


— 20 


159 


26 


— 20 


—3° 


—25 


102 


IO 


—23 


—32 


—28 


72 


27 


— 6 


— 3 1 


— l8 


182 


ii 


—13 


—3i 


— 22 


189 


28 


+ 25 


— 6 


+ IO 


367 


12 


—is 


—45 


—3° 


no 


29 


+ 26 


+ 10 


+ 18 


255 


I 3 


—41 


—47 


—44 


51 


3° 


+ 10 


—24 


— 7 


484 


14 


—33 

-38 


—44 
—48 


-38 

—43 


Si 
95 


3 1 


+ 5 


—25 


— 10 


236 


I 5 
16 












—41 


— S 1 


-46 


37 




Mean 


Mean 


Mean 


Total 


17 


-36 


—47 


—42 


49 




Temp. 
— 9.0 


Temp. 
—25-5 


Temp. 
— 20.4 


8,672 



Aggregate amount of calm weather for month, 42 hours. Maximum 
hourly velocity of wind for month and direction, 7 2 miles, south-south- 
east. Average temperature for month, — 37.8. Average wind velocity 
for month, 280 miles a day. Francis Long, Observer. 






)) 



I 



I 



MAP OF 



FRANZ JOSEF ARCH1 >e1gO 



Compiled from survey; 
of the 



Z,e£ler Pdar Expeditions 1901-02 >03-- 
and from information publ.shed b) 

(1660-61), JaCrSonCU- 97), 



information published b) 
igh 5m 
95-96) 
The Duke of the 



Payer (1872-74), Leigh Smith ... 

Nansen (1895-96), WeUman 0898 B) 

Abruzzi (1899- I S00). | 



Q U 



Scale 



in feet. 







Al berfc Edward V 



E E N 



'vorth 

i. 



s' y 



Glaciated ' 
sl Q pe 500 






"'*'' S'aciated land 4O 






,\> 



*>*ilt 



Crown, , ~'. 

t>», ,d 






>A 



s 



V&, A '■■ Bruqe 



S'Sf ^ \ M « be 



"erani 



rown by R w fcrtcr under direction of Waters. 







TORI 



6 \oV f ' ^/Of. Murray 



C V 



"1/ 



"**« 



HortU' 



'V 



x Ut 




..""■*•; 




Karl 

(f Alexander I- 



O"' 









<S \ C *':"&--■■. ^-5rcT * if^ W' 1 ^ 









// taA ' Emmanuel 

6, 



c Kieldser, i*Sj» * 



"'^•J ^'A BrorowiCh I. 



■f Keltic X < 

Eaton 1- _> €^ . 

i . 

Hooke 
'sfanc - 






J / (-pimpPt. ^ , 

y^JWindward *" \ Ether.d^ I - 

'r 



CivvUr \ 



'-t- 



1. rt C. Barents 



< % 






'-1. 1 °. ifw 1 "' "• 

Vui„-, 'V-^-%^4- , ""' s /, 




&r*H» m 



AOMtcagi* 



, a re'ft^ .^j ,, J Hayes 

■-•'-pe Fiume ^'. I 



^ilcie K 



lc t'" 1 



,on* 



J f -V V 

unrth I, C 'Via., 













-Triel 



'■' 



Mtfld&l? 
Leia 1 ! Brady i 






Hall 
IslaHd 






LiUrow 



1 ,o«.d I* 



lsland "S, %, ! 

• ... o 

no 



Long 5^" East from Greenwich 56 








aroo 







/ 

\ 






, 



